What If?
by Dextolan
Summary: Maeve and Reid love story: What if Maeve and Spencer had the chance to have a life together? Reid and Maeve have been together for 4 years now, they believe Maeve's stalker is gone by this time, but one night she returns... So this was meant to be a one shot from a request by ahowell1993, but I loved it so much that it's become a full story. WARNING: Lots of Fluff inside.
1. The Date

**(Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of and the show criminal minds.)**

 **So this was meant to be a one shot from a request by _ahowell1993_ , but it was such a great idea that I deceided to make a full story from this.**

 **It's a Maeve and Reid love story, but** **Maeve's stalker does go away and Reid and Maeve can actually have a relationship, it's kinda like a what could've happened story. I think Spencer deserves a bit of love in his life.**

 **Some parts of this first chapter will derive from their date in season 8 episode 10, but it's mostly different considering this one is actually successful.**

 **Go check out _ahowell1993's_ stories, credit for the idea goes to her. **

**It won't be too long a story as it was only meant to be a two-shot at most, but I hope this is what you wanted ahowell1993.**

4 years earlier

Spencer wandered nervously into the restaurant, halting at the entrance desk.

"Hi, do you have a reservation with us tonight?" A bubbly waitress asked, flashing him a genuine smile.

"Uh... yea, it should be under Spencer Reid." He replied.

She looked down at the booking register and thumbed through the names. Her finger paused on his name and she peered back up at him a smile berating her lips. She looked over him with hungry eyes.

"Sure, you're right here, a little early though." Reid looked at his feet with shame. "But that's fine, I can take you to your table now." She flashed him a toothy grin, grabbing a single menu from the counter.

"Oh uh, I'm still waiting for someone." Spencer admitted sheepishly.

The waitresses smile drooped, her hand slowly and painstaking pulled out a second menu. She'd hoped he'd be alone

"I'll take you to your table now and if you give me your girlfriends name I'll bring her over when she arrives." The waitress grumbled in a sulky tone.

Reid's tongue fumbled in his mouth for a minute taken aback; _girlfriend?_ Is that what they were to each other now? Spencer hadn't had a girlfriend...ever. He swallowed thickly.

"That'd be great, thank you. Her name is Maeve Donovan." The waitress jotted this down on her palm.

She began skulking off and Reid followed hurriedly.

She stopped at a small table facing a window, beyond the window lay a garden shadowed by night. On the table a large cream candle stood on a floral plate, casting whispy figures of light against the red and white checked tablecloth.

"This is you." The waitress nodded curtly down at the table.

Reid thanked her and shimmed down awkwardly. As soon as he was alone his fingers began to drum insatiable on the table.

He adjusted his navy bow tie yet again and smoothed down his light blue shirt, (which had started to uncoil from the safety of his trousers.)

He pulled on his bow tie a little, regretting the decision to wear it. His fiddled with his hair, before rubbing his face with frustration. He opened his eyes hoping no one could see how scared he was.

There was an elderly couple sat opposite him, quietly enjoying a meal in each other's company. The woman laughed at her partner, smacking his shoulder lightly. He leaned over and planted of soft kiss on her cheek and Spencer watched as her cheeks burned red. Reid watched them for a few more minutes, trying to figure out how they made each other so happy. Could _he_ do that for Maeve? He wanted to.

He reached down into his messenger and pulled out a book. He fumbled for the ribbon he had filling his pocket. He tied it around the book and set it on the table. He shifted its position so it sat straight. He smiled at it, remembering reading it himself.

"Spencer?"

Reid whipped around to see a small brown haired woman watching him with both curiosity and shyness. Her creamy chocolate eyes met his and she smiled, Reid couldn't help his own lips from turning up.

"Fancy meeting you here." She murmured, her smile widening.

"Hi" he said nervously.

"Hi" she replied, with equal nerves lacing her voice. She went to sit down and Reid scrambled from his seat, finally coming to his senses. He bashed his knee of the table edge, shaking the hot wax from the candle. He grimaced at her and she giggled at his clumsiness. He pulled out the chair opposite him and she slid gracefully into it.

"Thank you." She said, her eyes beamed at him. He stumbled back to his seat, his cheeks blushing in embarrassment.

"It's lovely here." Maeve gasped, gazing around the restaurant.

"I'm glad you like it." Reid responded, drinking in her beauty. She was wearing a mustard yellow cardigan, the collar of her cream blouse sticking out from the top. She wasn't wearing much makeup, her eyelids were a subtle brown shade and her eyelashes coated in a thin layer of mascara. Spencer knew she didn't need it. He had been right. He told Alex that " _it doesn't matter what she looks like, I mean... she's already the most beautiful girl in the world to me"_ he hadn't been wrong, but then again when was he?

"You look...really nice." He stuttered. Now it was Maeve's turn to blush.

"So do you." Her eyes wandered to the book, and her mouth lifted sneakily.

"Is that..."

"The Narrative of John Smith, yea, I..uh didn't know if you had it...so, I got it for you." He grabbed it and held it eagerly out towards Maeve. Her small, soft fingers brushed Reid's as she took it from him and he shivered. Maeve laughed at the copy Reid had given her wrapped in a silky brown label, Reid bit his lip, disappointed, Maeve caught this look.

"Oh Spencer, I love it...it's just.. well" she pulled a small red giftbag from beside her feet and handed it him.

"What's this?" He smirked, searching through the tissue paper. His fingers danced across a book and he chuckled. He revealed an identical twin to the book he'd just given Maeve.

"I guess we have the same taste." Maeve giggled.

Reid had already read the book several time, but even so, he gazed at it in wonder. He opened it up and found a quote scrawled out in what must of been Maeve's petit handwriting.

" _Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - We find it with another_."

"Thomas Merton." Reid whispered, catching her eyes and sharing a loving glance with her.

The waitress came back over, she seemed more bubbly now and she smiled sweetly at Spencer when she skipped over.

"Can I get you two love birds any drinks?" She asked, her voice sickly sweet.

"Do you like wine?" Reid asked Maeve, she nodded, a smile still playing on her lips.

"Can we see what selection you do?"

"Sure, sugar." The waitress hopped off, swaying her hips purposely, glancing back to see if Spencer had been watching, but groaned when she saw his eyes locked back on Maeve.

Reid ordered Maeve's favourite wine and then their food.

Maeve had got lasagna and Reid was now explaining all the different facts he had on the dish. Unlike most people, however, Maeve was listening intently, her head resting in her palm and her elbow sat on the table, watching him thoughtfully.

"...And it actually originated from the region of Emilia-Romagna in Italy. The earliest recipes are dated from the thirteenth century, however, when it was first prepared tomatoes were not known to Europeans, so instead, in their recipes, different types of cheeses were used. It's was so popular, that July 29th was named National Lasagna Day, and it still is to this day."

"You can make lasagna in the dishwasher." Maeve added happily. Reid narrowed his eyes and thought for a second; only a second.

"Oh yea, I guess you're right, you'd have to cover it to keep water out though." Spencer warned and Maeve laughed, he joined in after a few moments.

A comfortable silence elapsed between the two, both of whom were still smiling. Reid's face turned to worry all of a sudden.

"Are you sure you're safe?" Reid asked fearfully, his fingers reaching out and touching Maeve's.

"It's been... god, months now, I haven't had any threats or messages." She held his hand fully now, looking deep into Spencer's eyes. " I can't live like this anymore. I can't be alone any longer." Her own brown eyes were pleading with Spencer's hazel ones.

"You won't be. I promise." He whispered, edging closer to her, their faces centimetres apart.

Maeve shifted closer and their lips were almost touching. An overwhelming desire to kiss her came over him.

The arrival of their drinks forced them away from each other, but Reid couldn't stop grinning like a fool.

He eventually got his chance. He paid for the food, no matter how much Maeve politely protested, and they walked out together.

Maeve turned to face him, taking his hand gently in hers.

"Thank you Spencer. I haven't felt this good for... I don't even know how long."

"Me too." He squeaked nervously.

"Can I...can I kiss you?" He asked apprehensively.

Maeve tittered lightly, curling her fingers more tightly around Spencer's.

"Of course. You don't need to as..." she began, but Spencer's lips were already on hers. This was the second time he'd ever kissed a girl. Lila had been the first, but this was different. Reid unwound his hands from hers and wrapped them around Maeve, pulling her closer to him. He felt the warmth of her lips and tongue seep into his mouth. It felt so much more than a kiss. It was soft and tender, yet meaningful. The kiss lasted a good minute, only breaking for air. He still had his hands around her, not wanting to have any distance between each other. Maeve pulled her hands up and caressed his face pulling it towards her once more for a second kiss.

When the taxi dropped Maeve outside her house, Spencer walked her to her door. Before she could step inside, he suddenly remembered what he needed to say to her.

"A few weeks ago, before you got off the phone, you said 'bye, love you'. I..I uh never got the chance to say it back." Maeve smiled at his cuteness.

"I love you Spencer Reid." She said giving him his 'chance'.

"I love you too, Maeve Donovan."


	2. The Celebration

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **So this chapter is set 4 years after the first, all the team is the same as it was in season 8, but with the addition of Emily Prentiss:**

 **1) because like I said in my other fic, Hotch, Morgan, JJ, Garcia, Blake, Reid, Rossi and Emily make my favourite team ;-)**

 **2) it would be likely that a new member would be added after that time, so it might as well be Emily**

 **I won't say anymore, you will have to find out what happened in that time, and it won't take too long. ;-D**

 ** _Future me here, I'm just coming back and editing some chapters, boredom can do that to you._**

* * *

Present 

Reid was swaying smugly in his chair, his leg jigging away happily. They were all gathered in the conference room wrapping up a case.

"Right, that's it, pretty boy. What are you so smiley about today?" Reid opened his mouth, then closed it with a smirk.

"C'mon! Don't tease us." Alex tsked, kissing her teeth.

"Okay, okay," Reid said throwing his hands up in surrender and jumping from his seat.

"Wait here." He dashed from the room.

Garcia groaned and collapsed into her chair, exhausted from the case. _Why does he have to be so suspicious?_ She wished he would get to the point, as much as she loved their resident genius, he always seemed to drag out a question.

"I swear, if he's bought us tickets to that 'phantasmagoria' again, I may actually kill him. Speaking of which, you should probably take my gun, Hotch." Morgan joked.

Emily put her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, he wouldn't do such a thing. Would he?" She glanced at the others for support, but JJ's shrug left her totally un-reassured.

Reid ran back in, taking his seat, a big toothy grin plastered his face.

"Reid, please tell me you're not taking us to one of your nerd conventions," Emily begged.

Garcia turned to her in mock anger. "Hey, I go to them too! They're actually extremely exciting." She defended.

"Oh no, it's something better than that, but I agree with Garcia. Comic-con is a pop-culture phenomenon, there are few conventions like it and it attracts around 130,000 people. Last year there were 137,890 people who attended and it eve..."

"Reid!" Laughed Rossi. "As much as I would love to hear about comit... comit com...cog?" He scratched his head in frustration, "comic-con" Garcia hissed quietly, as Rossi fumbled with the words.

"Anyway," Rossi said loudly, interrupting the speech Garcia and Reid were about to launch over his mispronunciation. "Will you tell us already?" He insisted.

"Oh, yea, right sorry." Spencer pulled out an envelope he'd been holding, concealed beneath the table.

Garcia slid from the table and snatched it from him. Reid let her, laughing at the frustration he was causing them. Garcia hopped back in her seat, the team's eyes followed her. She ripped open the envelope and pulled out a plain white card.

"Did you get us a gift voucher?" She moaned, examining the plainness.

"Open it." Reid insisted, biting his bottom lip and sitting on the edge of his seat.

Garcia opened the card, revealing it only to herself. Her face contorted from annoyance to shock and then an explosion of pure joy. She dropped the card on the table, covering her mouth to stifle a scream.

"OH, MY GOD! SPENCER!" She screamed running over and flinging herself at him, sending herself, Reid and the chair sailing across the room, as she suffocated him with a hug and he laughed with equal happiness.

Hotch watched them suspiciously and pulled open the card on the table so that everyone could see. Inside the card was a small photo; a sonogram. Two small names were printed beneath the picture: Maeve Reid and beneath that: Spencer Reid.

"My Man!" Morgan yelled, smacking Reid on the back as soon as Garcia had released him.

"Congratulations," Hotch said a smile creeping over his lips.

"Thanks, Hotch." Before he could shake Hotch's hand, though, Rossi had grabbed his face and was kissing his cheeks in his Italian tradition.

"Bravo Kiddo." He laughed, letting Reid go.

Emily and JJ opted for a hug with their youngest agent, but a more sedate one compared to the bear hug Garcia had unleashed.

"How far along is she?" JJ asked as she pulled away from the hug.

"6 weeks 2 days."

Alex rolled her eyes.

"Trust you to be accurate. Come here you." She said, lovingly embracing the young man.

"I'm so happy for you." She whispered in his ear.

Morgan held up the sonogram and chortled in disbelief.

"And how long have you kept this a secret from us?" Hotch asked slyly, folding his arms.

"Maeve told me when we got back yesterday, she hasn't known long. Her first scan was last night, so I didn't miss it." Reid beamed happily, thankful they had solved the case early.

"It's not like he could've kept it from us, Hotch. He's been a happy-go-lucky all day, I'm surprised he lasted that long." Sniggered Rossi and Reid blushed slightly.

"Right. Where's this wife of yours?" Garcia demanded, holding Spencer by his shoulders, her face full of seriousness.

"She's actually on her way now, she had a feeling you'd want to see her, Penelope." Garcia blushed slightly at this. Maeve had seemed to get on with the team exceedingly well, especially Garcia, who dragged Maeve on shopping trips even when Emily, JJ, and Alex were away on a case. She squealed excitedly, bouncing up and down like a child.

"I take it you told them then." Maeve walked in grinning at Penelope's excitement.

"Sorry, they got it out of me," Reid said giving her puppy dog eyes, before planting a soft kiss on her lips.

Reid proceeded to kneel down beside Maeve and gave his daughter a kiss on her rosy cheek. She squealed in delight, extending her small arms out towards him. He scooped her up and cuddled her close to him.

Maeve put her hands on her hips and pouted at the two of them.

"She's been fussy since I picked her up from daycare and suddenly she's daddy's happy little girl"

"She must have missed him," Garcia confirmed. She then grabbed Maeve by the arm and gathered her into a similar hug as she had done with Reid but less constricting due to Maeve's pregnancy.

Eva held onto her father's shirt, struggling into his neck, suddenly feeling shy when she caught the gazes of his team.

"Congratulations Maeve," Hotch said smiling at her. She returned the smile.

"Another one!" Alex grinned coming over to Maeve.

"Yep. Let's hope this one is quieter than Eva over there."

"You love it really." Reid chuckled, waving his wife off and stroking his little girl's hair. Garcia locked eyes with Reid, a sudden desire grasping her. Reid saw it too and coaxed his daughter.

"I think Auntie Pene wants some cuddles." He whispered in Eva's ear. The small girl turned her head to Garcia who was knelt with her arms open. She looked at Spencer in disappointment, wishing she could keep cuddling him. He set her on the floor, but she kept looking at him with her big hazel eyes. She reached her arms up again to be picked up by her daddy. Penelope's soft voice pulled Eva's eyes away from Reid, and she started hobbling over towards Garcia, giggling as she got close.

"And what have you been up to today sugarplum." Garcia shrilled and pulled the child up into a hold.

The small girl began to make big hand gestures with her little arms (like Reid would often do when explaining) and babbling away about the toys she'd played with.

"Right, this calls for a celebration. I expect you all at mine for 7, that gives you an hour and a half to get ready, so get outta here!" Rossi laughed shooing the team away. Garcia held onto Eva until they reached the elevator. She looked at Maeve and Spencer, reluctance in her eyes. She turned her back on them, hoping they'd forget she had Eva in her arms.

"Hand over the baby and no-one gets hurt," Reid said aiming his fingers at her like a gun.

"Oh, alright." She turned back towards them and Eva opened her arms towards her daddy.

"Meanie." Garcia pouted, sticking her tongue out at Reid. Eva mimicked her and Reid laughed.

"Don't teach her bad things." Reid threatened, filling his father role, through smirking at the two of them.

"Then don't be taking my precious away from me." Garcia poked him in the ribs.

"Ah don't worry, you have first dibs on cuddles when we get to Rossi's."

"Deal."

* * *

Maeve and Reid got back to their house, Reid offered to watch Eva until Maeve finished in the shower. He popped the 2 year old on the floor and she tottered off into her bedroom, calling for him to follow her.

It was 4 years exactly since Reid and Maeve had their first date. They got married 1 year 3 months 14 days and 6 hours later, and another year later Eva was born. She'd been 2 for 3 months already.

Spencer had been so happy when she'd walked for the first time, into her mom's arms at 11 months old.

 _"Come on Eves..." Maeve called to the baby sat across the room from her, next to a kneeling Spencer. Reid picked up her little fingers and guided her to her feet._

 _"Let go of my fingers, Eva." He encouraged. She released his fingers, and they wrapped around her small tummy._

 _She took one shaky step and her knees buckled beneath her. Spencer caught her and set her back on her toes. She tried again and after taking a step and not falling, Spencer let her go._

 _She stumbled at first then managed to get her balance and slowly made her way to Maeve who was cheering excitedly with her arms wide open._

 _"That's it, baby." Cried Maeve as her daughter walked nearer. Eva collapsed into her Moms arms and laughed wildly when Maeve stood up and twirled with her._

 _Reid applauded her and Eva began to clap wildly between giggles._

 _Reid turned to his laptop, giving a thumbs up to his team who had been watching on Skype._

"Daaadeee" the little girl sung, poking her head around the door frame. Reid jogged into Eva's room, which was painted a pale yellow and had beautiful paintings of characters from Eva's favorite stories scattered across the walls. Maeve had painted them all when Reid had been on a case.

"What did you do today, Eves?" Spencer asked, sitting on a small chair at her craft table.

"Wai' 'der, dadee." She giggled, running across the room, her little pink skirt floating along with her. She came back with a painting and handed it him, stepping back, wrapping her arms behind her and smiling modestly.

"What's this?" Reid asked looking down at the picture. There were 3 people in the painting and a blue house with several turrets and a unicorn on top in the background.

"Tha's ou, tha's mummy, tha's evesie (meaning herself)." She pointed proudly.

"Wow, that's amazing Eves. Who's that on top of our house?" Reid inquired, motioning to the poorly drawn unicorn with only 2 legs and one eye.

"Tha's cupqwake." Beamed Eva.

"Oh really! I didn't know we owned a unicorn called Cupcake." Reid popped the painting down and pulled the girl in for a hug. He then began tickling her small podgy belly. She squealed and ran from the room and down the hall.

"Come back here you! I need to get you changed!" Spencer called after her.

* * *

Rossi handed a glass of wine to Reid who held his hand up.

"Thanks, but.."

"Oh, Spencer, just have a glass, I really don't need you to bother with that."

"With what?" Asked JJ.

"Spence felt bad that I went through no alcohol and caffeine on my own when I was with Eva, so this time he's going to do it with me." Maeve filled her eyes ignoring Reid's attempts to defend himself.

"Such a gentleman." Garcia simpered fluffing up Reid's hair.

"Well if Maeve's alright with it you might as well have one," Rossi said waving the glass under Reid's nose.

"Alright, fine." Reid snatched up the glass and took a meaningful sip.

He swallowed and pointed at Rossi warningly and kissing his teeth to allow the bitter-sweet flavor to dance along his tongue. "But just the one."

Rossi sent Morgan and Hotch a mischievous smile.

"Of course." The Italian replied.

Henry, Eva, and Jack were sat in their pajamas watching a show on TV.

Jack was in short sleeve pjs with Spider-Man's face stuck on the top, and the small Spider-Man logo printed out across the shorts. Henry had long sleeved pajama bottoms in a soft blue fabric and a navy blue shirt sleeve that didn't seem to go with the bottoms originally. Eva was sat between the two boys; she was wearing long sleeve button down pajamas both of which in yellow and white checks. The boys were slowly dropping off to sleep either side of her, but she remained awake and alert, having had a quick nap on the way. She peered around to see her Mummy and Daddy chatting away with his team and their families and laughing every few minutes. She whimpered and turned around to watch them. She tried to make herself heard again as her little head only made it a little bit past the couch so they couldn't see her.

"Daddeee." She whimpered quietly, desperate to be with him and listen to what they were talking about.

Spencer had been away on a case for 4 days, he'd come back the day before and Eva saw him only briefly in the morning before he went off to work again to finish up some paperwork. She wanted to cuddle up to him again like they had earlier.

When they didn't notice her small voice and her brown mop of curls and hazel eyes peering over the couch, she felt her bottom lip quiver.

"Ma meee!" She wailed, but still only very quietly, because out of shyness she didn't want the team to see her.

She looked down to see the two boys curled up asleep. She felt all alone. She bounced on the couch to try and see her family and they still didn't notice.

The tears began to fall then, her breath hitched and she wailed loudly.

"Dad Deeee!" She yelled in her tiny voice. The head around the table finally turned to her, but she was so overcome with emotion that she continued to cry miserably.

"You're needed, Daddy." Maeve teased biting into another prawn cracker. Reid turned to the couch and saw the soft brown curls he'd passed on to his daughter, sticking up from behind the back cushions and her big brown eyes glistening with tears staring at him.

"Daddeee!" Came her frustrated little voice and she jumped up to try and see him.

Reid darted off in her direction almost knocking over his chair and the team laughed at his clumsiness. He reached the couch and looked down. Eva was stood between the sleeping boys, standing on her tiny tiptoes and extending her arms up to him and beginning an aggravated little jig.

"Up. Up pe's Daddee." She pleaded. Spencer grasped her under her armpits and hitched her up on his side. He went and sat down on the couch with her.

"Did you want me to watch this with you, huh?"

She shook her head vigorously and pointed back to the dining room.

"You want to be with us?" Spencer asked quietly stroking her hair out of her face.

"Yep pe's" she smiled, sniffling slightly from her bout of tears.

Reid placed Eva on the floor, and she stood watching him and twiddling her thumbs. Reid turned the TV off and pulled a purple, shaggy blanket over the two sleeping boys. He turned back to Eva, who already toddled over to him with her arms stretched.

"Evesie up pe's," she said.

"Come on then." Reid hiked her up and returned to the others.

"The boys are asleep," Reid said, taking his seat next to Maeve and Morgan. He placed Eva on his lap and she shimmied to get herself comfortable.

"And you should be too, miss." Maeve tsked at Eva, who was already smiling as she played with Reid's long fingers.

"Evesie all awone," Eva whispered. Maeve gave her a little kiss to make her feel better.

The whole team was gathered around the table, including Will, Alex's husband James and Maeve.

Garcia was sat opposite the Reid's and she was making funny faces at Eva, making her snicker. Eva leaned forward, putting her hands on the table and blew a small, spitty raspberry and then giggled madly.

"Hey, you!" Reid warned, tickling Eva causing her to scream with laughter again.

The team began talking again, but Eva's eyes were fixed on a bag of prawn crackers on the table. They'd ordered Chinese and Eva had gotten her own little princess plate filled with a small meal, but Maeve had kept the crackers away from her, knowing how messy she was with potato chips.

"...he tried to sell me that very watch and I then had to explain..." Rossi wiped tears from his eyes as he explained his last shopping trip with his family.

Emily took a cracker from the bag and Eva's hungry little eyes followed it. Emily watched the little girl and chortled.

"Does someone want a cracker?" Prentiss said aloud. Eva's head began bobbing in response and she licked her lips excitedly.

"Maybe you should ask mummy first, Eves," JJ said, smiling over at Maeve.

Eva snapped her focus on her mother. She pointed madly at the bag of crackers.

"Can Evesie 'av won pe's Mummy." Begged the toddler in Reid's lap. Maeve faked a thoughtful expression.

"I don't know. Has Eva been a good girl today?" Maeve asked, raising her eyebrows at her daughter. Eva got to her feet standing on Reid's legs, he had to grab hold of her tiny waist so she didn't topple over.

"Evesie's been weal good. Me made picter (picture) and...and payed in the sandbwox." Insisted Eva, stomping her feet on Spencer.

"Alright, alright. But just one, okay." Maeve sighed, reaching for the bag, but Eva had already scrambled onto the table and retrieved her own cracker. She then sat in the center of the table to eat it.

"Eves, we don't sit on the table," Reid said, hiding his smile from her.

"Come eat it on me," Rossi said, offering a hand to Eva who took it eagerly. Rossi helped her walk along his big table and sat her on his lap at the head of the table, where she could see everyone.

"Are you sure, Dave? She's pretty messy with those." Maeve said anxiously.

"Don't worry about that, Rossi winked, waving her off. Rossi looked down and saw Eva's big, sweet eyes gazing up at him. She slowly took a loud crunch of the cracker and white dust and crumbs peppered his lap. The team laughed, no one could ever get mad at a child so adorable.

Eva's energy slowly waned after an hour, she was now in Emily's lap after making her way around most of the people at the table, to have a little chat and a cuddle. Rossi had let her back on his table and she'd started babbling and waving her arms wildly, which had sent the team into fits of laughter because she reminded them so much of Reid? when he'd go off on a statistics rant. Reid had had to pull her off the table, but she's managed to escape his hold and trot over to Garcia.

Eva was significantly quieter now, and her eyelids drooped slightly whilst she was in Emily's lap.

"I think we best get her home." Reid stood up and stretched.

"Speaking of." JJ turned to Will.

"We should get Henry to bed."

"Thanks so much for having us Rossi, it was wonderful." Spencer walked over to Rossi, who got out of his seat and hugged the young agent.

"Anytime. Seriously. And we had cause to celebrate! Another baby Reid is on its way." Rossi grinned widely, causing both Spencer and Maeve to blush.

Maeve went over to Emily to take the almost sleeping Eva home.

"You better bring her to see us again." Garcia groaned, kissing Eva's forehead.

"When I go on maternity leave you'll be seeing a lot more of us." Promised Maeve. Eva had wrapped her arms loosely around Maeve's neck and her body was stretched out across her Mothers chest as she carried her.

"You guys better be coming to the barbecue tomorrow." Hotch declared. Everyone's faces became confused.

"Cruz had given us 2 days off. So I expect you all at mine for lunch tomorrow. We will have a barbecue and play some sports."

"Count us in." Chirped Maeve.

"See you there." Reid chorused as he ushered Maeve out of the door.

Maeve buckled in an exhausted Eva, handing her the well-loved stuffed fox to snuggle with. She hopped in next to Reid who was waving from the driver's side at the window and then at JJ, Will, and Henry who were also piling into their car.

"Spence look." Reid turned to see his little girl fast asleep with her fox close to her face and her mouth hanging open.

"She's gonna sleep well tonight." Reid smiled.

* * *

 **I'm loving writing about Reid having a family, it's so cute! Next chapter should be up tomorrow night, so don't go anywhere!**

 **Oh and just a note to tannerose5, I had him wearing a bow tie, but appearing very uncomfortable in it to show how nervous he was and how he changed his appearance slightly to impress her. Also, a bow tie is super cute ;) He wore one in 'Zugzwang' in the fake marriage scene, and he might have worn one for JJ's wedding, and I thought his first proper date would also be a significant time to crack out the bow tie.**

 **Oh, and in case you're wondering Eva's nickname is Eves which is pronounced like leaves but with the 'L'.**


	3. The Barbecue

**(Disclaimer: I don't own criminal minds (sad face) )**

 **So these first few chapters are going to be nice ones showing Reid, Maeve and Eva's life together, because I think they're so sweet. I won't be throwing them straight into the deep end just yet.**

 **So sorry for the delay, it is currently midnight and I still have about 500 words to write to complete this, but I'm so tired I'm beguinning to see double. I hope to be more organised with my chapters, but the ones for this story are longer than my previous story, so please bear with me.**

 **Please read and review, it helps me so much!**

Reid woke up to a quiet house. His sleepy eyes wandered to the clock, which read 6.12. He was always up early for work, so for him, this was late. He hopped out of bed, heading to the wardrobe to get changed, but he stopped suddenly. The sleep fog lifted from his head and he remembered that they had a few days off. He collapsed back on the bed next to a sleeping Maeve. Spencer brushed her hair out of her eyes and watched her sleep. He already noticed that she'd developed a pregnant glow in her cheeks. Her hair had lightened considerably since they'd first met and she'd gained little wrinkles around her mouth from smiling. To Spencer she was even more beautiful now than on their first date.

He heard soft sounds from Eva's room, alerting him that she'd woken up as well. He slipped from their bedroom, shutting the door quietly and made his way down the hall. He paused at the door covered in stickers, with the letters 'EVA' pinned up in the centre. The sounds got louder as he pressed his ears close. He pushed the door open, slipping in soundlessly.

Eva was sat on her bed, her hair stuck up all over the place. She had a large book filled with colourful pictures lay out on her lap, her small toes sticking out from over the top. She turned over a page, making noises as if reading the words aloud, Reid knew she was only looking at the pictures.

He tiptoed closer to her, hoping she wouldn't notice. Her focus remained on the book. Spencer smiled; she was just like her parents, both of whom managed to lose themselves in books. He edged closer, but the floorboard under Eva's pink rug squeaked loudly. Reid grimaced.

"Daddy!" She cried, flipping the book off her lap and running up to him.

"Morning, Evesie." He mumbled kneeling to accept her hug. "What were you reading?" He asked and she grinned happily at him.

"Woof woofs!" She giggled stumbling off to get the book. Reid followed her and sat on the edge of her small bed, which she'd plastered with animal stickers when Reid hadn't been looking; Maeve wasn't at all pleased. She hopped on the bed, gathering up the book and unsteadily climbed on Reid's lap to show him.

The front cover had a big colourful illustration of a pink dog, wagging its tail.

"Pink, daddy, pink!" She said excitedly pointing at the colourful dog. "Pinky Woof Woof!" She exclaimed proudly.

"Doggies aren't pink, Evesie." She pouted at him.

"This won is, daddy." She argued, Spencer held up his arms in defeat.

"What noise does he make?" He asked, putting his chin of her shoulder so he could see the pages she was flicking over. She turned her head at him, looking slightly exasperated.

"Woof woofs a gwil. Like Evesie."

"Oh! Well then, what noise does _she_ make?" Reid repeated. Eva smiled madly, and started making loud barking sounds and giggling.

"Daddy do it." She insisted. Reid blushed slightly at the request, but not wanting to disappoint his daughter he began to make small puppy barks which made Eva squeal and giggle.

"I didn't think we owned any puppy dogs." Maeve chuckled, standing in the doorway.

"Mameee!" Eva shouted, toddling to her mother, who lent down and heaved Eva into a cuddle. She burrowed her head into Maeve's shoulder, and then pulled away to give her mummy a big, sloppy kiss.

"Shall we have pancakes for breakfast?" Maeve asked her daughter and her husband.

"Yea!" They yelled in unison.

"I'll go put something on TV, for this one. Could you make the batter, Spence?" Reid nodded vigorously slipping past them. He stopped by Maeve, kissing her on the cheek, then turned to his daughter.

"And where was my kiss this morning?" He said pretending to be sad. Eva leaned across Meave, taking Reid's face in her hands and giving him an even wetter kiss than she'd given Maeve.

"'Dat beder, daddy?" She asked innocently.

"Much better." And he skipped off girlishly to the kitchen, leaving Eva laughing and Maeve smiling and shaking her head.

"Your daddy is crazy."

"Daddy is a supper hewo." Eva gasped in awe.

"A superhero? You're just as crazy as he is!" Maeve laughed, heading for the lounge.

After changing her diaper, Maeve sat Eva in the middle of the big couch and flicked on her favourite show, which she started clapping along to.

Reid insisted he'd make the pancakes, so Maeve ended up sitting and watching the rest of Eva's show with her. Eva kept running back and forth from the couch to the TV, throwing her arms up and bouncing around like the characters on the show.

"Pancakes!" Reid shouted from the kitchen. Eva was off the couch and in the kitchen within seconds. Reid saw her coming and caught her before she could climb up on a big chair.

"Nu-uh, this is yours." He said, securing her in her high chair. She crossed her arms stubbornly, looking away. Spencer grabbed her favourite plate with a pink princess dancing on the front. He piled 3 small pancakes on her plate and placed it under her nose, which stopped her sulking and she began to drool.

"What sauce do you want, Eves? We've got, strawberry, chocolate or maple." Spencer displayed the bottles in front of her hungry eyes.

"Choc-choc!" She begged.

"What do you say, Eves?" Maeve asked, taking her seat beside the high chair.

"Pe's daddy." She pleaded, jigging around excitedly in her chair. Reid lathered her pancakes in the thick brown chocolate sauce and handed it over to her, placing her small pink fork next to it. Eva ignored the fork and picked up the top pancake ramming it into her mouth, covering her face and much of her hair (which was still stuck up in crazy directions from sleep) in sticky brown goo.

"We really need to work on using your cutlery, Eves." Reid sighed.

"Says the man who can't use chopsticks." Maeve laughed.

"Japan uses 24 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks a year, china uses 45 billion, so in a way, using a fork for Chinese food means that I'm making a different to the environment." Maeve rolled her eyes and they had a long discussion about the origins of forks and chopsticks and which one was better.

"I'll clean up this." Maeve motioned to the kitchen and their dirty plates. "If you clean up that." Maeve laughed, pointing at Eva who was licking her chocolate stained fingers, and her face was soiled in the sticky mess.

"It looks like someone needs a bath." Reid said pulling Eva out of her chair trying to avoid touching her grubby face and fingers. Maeve groaned at the diversion for their regular schedule of bath time.

"Maeve, look at her and tell me she doesn't need a good wash." Reid presented the filthy child to her.

"Fine, but she better be squeaky clean when you're done."

Reid sat Eva at her crafting table after he'd bathed her, and he began sorting through her drawers for an outfit.

Eva's eyes were slightly red from tears. She never liked having her face wiped and it took Spencer a long time to wipe all the chocolate from her face and hair. Reid did let her play in the bath a bit longer with her rubber ducks to cheer her up.

After a minute of fishing through the drawer, Reid held up an outfit to Eva for her judgement. She smiled.

"Beeeeezzzz." She clapped.

Reid changed her and left her with a colouring book on his and Maeve's bed, whilst he showered. Maeve changed as Eva coloured.

"Who are we going to see today?" Maeve whispered in her little girl's ear.

"Gwammie, gwampa?"she asked.

"No, not grandma and grandpa." The little girl went to open her mouth again, but Maeve stopped her. "And not Nanny either."

The little girl put down her pencils and thought.

"Auntie Pen?"she chirped.

"Yes, but you know what that means, don't you?"

"Jayjay, Mowgan, Wossi, Hotsss, Awix, Emawee..." Eva listed excitedly.

"Aaaand, Will, Henry and Jack are coming too!" The small girl let out a screech of delight.

Maeve parked the car and went round to get their bags from the trunk, whilst Spencer got Eva out. Hotch had text the address of a park near his apartment, and as Reid surveyed the area, which was surprisingly quiet, he discovered Hotch, Morgan and Emily setting up a small barbecue.

Hotch secured a cooling rack to the barbecue and looked up to see Maeve and Reid with Eva in his arms walking over. Maeve had 3/4 length jeans on, with sandles and a light blue vest top. She carrried a cardigan, which she wore most days, but the weather proved too hot for it. Reid had a light purple,checked, short sleeve shirt on and creamy, chinos-style, knee length shorts. His hair was messy as normal.

Eva was wearing short, light blue dungarees, with a white, short sleeve shirt underneath, covered in little embroidered bumblebees. She had a little pair of white, strap on sandles, and her hair was almost as untidy as Reid's.

She saw Hotch and the others, and she hid her face into Reid's shirt nervously.

"Hey, Maeve made some desserts." Reid waved in his normal awkward fashion.

"Ooo what d'you make?" Emily asked licking her lips and eyeing Maeve's bag.

"Chocolate cupcakes, chocolate eclairs and chocolate chip cookies." Maeve announced proudly.

"Bit of a chocolate theme going on there." Morgan grinned.

"Well, when you live with a chocolate monster." Maeve started, but Eva interrupted her excitedly.

"Choc choc?" She looked around for it. The others laughed and Eva gave a disappointed pout.

"Need a hand?" Reid asked putting Eva on the floor and taking her small hand in his.

"I doubt you've barbecued a thing in your life, Pretty Boy." Morgan laughed.

"Oh he did a good job of barbecuing my omelette last week." Maeve confirmed.

"It would've been fine if Eva hadn't got her tongue stuck in her sippy cup. Anyway, I helped your dad with those burgers a few months back." Reid argued, and Maeve raised her eyebrows at Hotch, who laughed.

"Fine, you can help. Go set up the picnic blanket with Prentiss." Hotch ordered, not wanting Reid to burn their lunch.

Jack ran over with his football under his arm.

"Hi Maeve. Can Eva come and play?" Jack squeaked politely.

"Oh hey Jack! You go ahead, but I warn you she probably won't be much fun if you're playing football. Just call me or Spencer if she's too much trouble" Maeve let go of Eva and gave her a little push towards Jack.

"Thanks! Come on Eves." Jack took Eva's hand and coaxed her into going with him, she had began chewing her fingers shyly. The two children wandered away, Eva looking up at Jack in awe and holding his hand tightly. Hotch smirked at Maeve and pulled out his phone.

"This is...uh...for Garcia." Hotch explained kneeling to capture the two kids hand in hand.

"Yea, sure I get you." Maeve winked as Hotch blushed.

"I'm not late am I?" Rossi's voice rose from behind them all.

"Hey, Rossi, please tell them I can cook." Reid huffed.

"He did cook me a mean carbonara when I came over for dinner a while back." He agreed thoughtfully.

"Thank you!" Reid exulted.

"That doesn't mean you can barbecue. It's a fine art Kid." Reid frowned at Morgan's definition.

"The whole point of a barbecue is a more convenient and easy way to cook as opposed to doing it inside. Therefore if I can cook inside, I can cook just as well on a barbecue. And it's not an art, Morgan, it originated from the word "sacred fire pit". You'd of been more right if you'd of called it a sport because..."

"Reid." Morgan threw up his arms. "You _can_ barbecue. Happy? Just let me handle this one, okay?" Reid kissed his teeth.

"Fine, but if you burn anything, I'm barbecuing next time." Reid sighed making Morgan chortle. _He_ never burnt food.

"Deal."

"Wow. I see you guys have almost set everything up. But it isn't a family meal without my famous triple fudge cookies, now is it?" Garcia skipped towards them, with Alex following at her heels, weighed down by bags.

"What did you buy, Penelope?" Emily moaned, rolling her eyes at Maeve.

"Can I not spoil my nieces and nephews? Actually don't answer that because I will _never_ stop."

"You alright, Alex?" Reid asked a tired looking Blake.

"You go shopping with Garcia for two hours and then you'll know the answer." Moaned Alex, and Garcia shoved her lightly.

Eva and Jack were several metres away from the team. Jack was rolling the ball to Eva, who was trying to kick it back at him, but several times she had to run to grab it and reposition it by her little feet. She managed to kick it pretty hard and Jack allowed it to go through his legs, he fell to his knees and pretended to cry in frustration.

"Noooo!" He groaned. Eva giggled and rushed around him to grab the ball before he did. By the time he opened his eyes from his small performance, Eva was already running away from him with the ball in her arms.

"Hey!" He yelled, laughing, and Eva squealed, her little legs pumped faster.

Reid put the plates on the blanket and watched as his daughter stumbled by with a big football in her tiny arms. Jack was chasing after her.

"Eva, I don't think that's how you're supposed to play." Reid laughed. Hotch looked over and smiled at the scene.

"I'm pretty sure that's a hand ball, Eva." He called, but the little girl shimmied between the adults, trying to avoid the advancing Jack. Eva stopped next to Maeve and threw the ball on the floor.

"Evesie won!" She cheered loudly.

"But we we're playing soccer." Jack frowned.

"Who's been teaching her to play football? Was it you Morgan?" Reid chuckled.

"Nope, and I know she didn't learn from you." Reid pretended to be offended by the comment, but couldn't help laughing. Morgan returned to the barbecue. Maeve picked up the ball and looked at Eva.

"If you're going to play with Jack, you've got to stick to his rules, okay?" Eva nodded solemnly, taking the ball and giving it back to Jack.

"Sorwy." She mumbled, giving him her big, brown, puppy dog eyes.

"That's okay Eves. We can play football with everyone else later."

"And daddy?" She asked. Spencer turned his head towards her, grimacing at his wife and his team.

"Uh...maybe." He muttered, and Hotch raised his eyebrows at Maeve. Eva had him wrapped around her little finger.

"Anyone want a hot dog?" Morgan brandished a skewered sausage at them proudly. Eva and Jack raised their arms eagerly.

"I have two takers. Is their a third?" He yelled.

"Hey guys, so sorry we're late. Henry lost his football." JJ, Will and Henry wandered onto the scene, Will held up the football proudly.

"Does Henry want a hot dog?" Morgan asked. The response was inevitable by the way Henry's tongue curled around his lips.

Eva snuggled down into Spencer's lap, before taking a bite of her hot dog. She looked up at her Daddy and he winked at her and chewed a chunk from his burger. The whole team was sat around on the picnic blanket, eating and chatting and laughing.

"See, Reid, what I tell ya, I'm a master in the barbecuing game." Morgan grinned with pride and Reid grumbled back.

Emily looked over at the Reid family, sat close together on the blanket, Eva sat comfortably in Spencer's lap. It was amazing how fast she'd grown. Emily remembered when they'd first brought her home. She'd only had several brown hairs back then, and Reid was always so worried about holding her in case he hurt her by accident. Within a few months, however, he managed to carry her in one arm and two coffees in the other.

Emily smiled at how much the girl had grown. The small child now sat in Reid's lap, had a head full of soft brown waves, they had grown almost past her ears now. They were silky smooth to the touch, and though Maeve brushed them, Eva always seemed to find a way to make them as messy as her dad's. Her eyes were big and brown. The brown in her eyes was flaked with gold and bronze shades, adopted from both her parents. Eva's cheeks were slightly chubby, no doubt from all the "choc choc" Reid gave her.

They continued to talk and eat for another hour. Eva had managed to get Reid to play with her, whilst the boys had a burger to go with their hotdog. The boys were now finished and were becoming increasingly agitated. Spencer and Eva were knelt by a tree examining the bugs which resided there. Reid was explaining what each insect was and Eva was listening curiously.

"Aw, dad, please can we play something now?" Jack begged. Hotch sighed and pulled out a bat and ball from his bag. Jack and Henry glanced at each other and grinned mischievously.

"Who's in?" Hotch asked and everyone's hand went up.

"Oh and pretty Ricky over there, he made a promise." Smirked Morgan.

"Hey, Eva, Spence, get your little butts over here, we're playing baseball." Reid swallowed thickly and glanced at his little girl, she smiled back at him, filling him with confidence.

"Coming!" He took Eva's hand and swung it slightly as they made their way over.

They spilt into 2 teams: Hotch, Will, Emily, Alex, Maeve, Eva and Jack against Morgan, Rossi, JJ, Reid, Garcia and Henry. They gathered in their 2 teams and began whispering.

"We're fielding first. I'll bowl, Morgan you go deep field, Garcia backstop, JJ second and first base, Reid third, Henry forth. Got it. Oh and Reid, work your brain around what strategy they're using." Rossi commanded. Reid gulped nervously and went to where he was instructed.

Hotch was the first to bat. Reid looked at his stance then worked out the trajectory of his hit, from the probable velocity of his swing and Rossi's bowling.

"Psst, Morgan, go left about 3 feet and back 7." Hissed Reid, Morgan shook his head, but did as he was told. Sure enough the ball came flying in Morgan's direction, almost directly into his palm. He caught it with ease.

"OUT!" Morgan yelled. Hotch stopped mid-run, smacking his leg in frustration and storming back to the end of the queue.

"New rule." Emily yelled. "Reid's not allowed to use his brain!" Emily's team cheered in agreement, Rossi groaned.

"You can't just make up rules." Reid sulked. Maeve stuck her tongue out at him and said "We just did." Reid raised his eyebrows, crossed his arms and smirked. "Fine."

Maeve tried to get Eva to bat, but she was busy picking daisies and grass and throwing them over her head. By the time it came to her second go, their team was up 6 1/2 points.

"Eva, it's your go." Called Maeve. The little girl looked up from where she was sat on the grass.

"Come on, Eves." Jack begged. Eva struggled to her feet and toddled over, frowning at the big bat. She looked at her mother in confusion. Morgan jogged over and took the bat.

"I'll show you how to hit it." He said bending down and placing the bat it her small hands. The heavy bat nose dived into the grass as Eva tried to lift it. She giggled. Morgan leaned over her and took the bat in his hands, guiding her into a swing.

"You've gotta swing the bat when the ball comes, okay. Got it?" He asked. Big, brown eyes beamed back up at him.

"Mowgan stay. Mowgan help Evesie?" She asked, still struggling with the bat.

"Sure. Rossi, you can pitch it." Morgan confirmed, helping Eva holding the bat steady, her little arms already trying to swing. Rossi came really close and threw the ball lightly into the bat. Morgan swung the bat gently and Eva squealed when the ball smacked the wooden bat with a thunk and rolled off a few feet away.

"Run around there now." Morgan instructed pointing around at the team and taking the bat from her. She shuffled to the first base as Rossi went to get the ball and stopped.

"Keep going!" Hotch erged, and Maeve and Alex were waving their arms frantically.

"Run!" Spencer called from his post, motioning her to him. She smiled hysterically and cut across the course eagerly to Reid. Jack groaned and covered his eyes, but everyone else laughed. She jumped up and down when she got to Spencer, but Rossi gave Henry the ball and he was jogging over to the last base to tap her out.

"Run to that base, Eva." Reid implored. Eva's little legs began to race to the base before Henry. JJ bit her fingernails, hoping Henry wouldn't beat her. To her relief Henry pretended to drop the ball, and Eva dodged past him clumsily and stood on the frisbee which they'd marked as base. They all applauded her as they had with Jack, and she bounced crazily with giggles.

"Switch!" Called JJ, and they all swapped positions.

The second batters were doing well, until Reid stepped up again reluctantly.

"D'you need me to help you too?" Morgan teased him. Reid smirked at him, he took a deep breath and took his stance.

"What was that for?" Reprimanded Garcia quietly.

"He got us a home run last time someone mocked him." Morgan winked.

"Well stop, you'll only make him feel worse if he misses." Garcia snapped. Though they spoke quietly, Reid picked up every word and narrowed his eyes in determination. If there was one thing he liked more than being right, it was proving people wrong.

"Coming in hot." Yelled Will as he launched the ball through the air. Reid let his head empty of statistics and math calculations and allowed himself to feel the sport. The ball neared, he swung back and smacked the ball over their heads.

His team gaped in shock, as did Reid, as they watched the ball sail away. He threw the bat to the floor and ran awkwardly, with his arms raised, to the forth base. The team were still recovering from shock when he lifted his arms in triumph.

"See!" Yelled Morgan. "We win!" He cried embracing Reid and dancing around triumphantly.

"How about a game of football?" Will asked, when Morgan's team finally stopped celebrated, holding up the ball.

"I'll keep score." Reid said before anyone could argue.

They split into two teams again and the game began. Hotch and Rossi worked together to get their team a touchdown within the first 6 minutes. Eva was walking around in circles in the middle of the field and generally getting in everyone's way, though no one wanted to tell her so. Rossi gave her the ball, and she turned around to jack and handed it to him, before zoning out again. Maeve rolled her eyes apologetically.

"Do you want to play Eva?" Maeve asked, holding the child still. She shook her head and continued to gaze at the sky.

"There's some of your toys in my bag." Maeve tempted, pointing to her shoulder bag. Eva didn't need to be told twice and skipped off the pitch.

They kept playing for 20 minutes.

"What's the score Reid?" Rossi asked, they all turned to the young agent. He was sat on the grass with Eva in his lap, reading a picture book to her. A small pile of books lay at her feet.

"8:7 to Hotch's team." He mumbled sub-consciously, flicking over a page.

They all had a quick drink, before returning to the game. Emily scored the next touchdown.

"You're all tied, 8:8."

"Shall we say next touchdown wins?" Will suggested.

"Yea, it'll be getting late soon." Hotch agreed.

"Late!? It's not late!" Jack exclaimed.

"I thought you wanted to watch a film before bed?" Hotch quizzed. "You won't have much time for that if we stay out for hours." Jack grumbled, but didn't answer Hotch back.

Morgan was about to score when Hotch tackled him. In a desperate move Morgan threw the ball at the closest person: Garcia. She fumbled with the ball and didn't know what to do with herself for a minute.

"RUN!" Roared Emily. Garcia hopped to the touchdown line and struck the ball to the ground.

Reid barely noticed their celebrations. Eva had brought him another book, this one had no pictures but she'd seemed very insistent on reading it. He placed their bag behind him to lean against as he read. The team joined them, filling themselves up on the left over barbecue food, cakes and cookies.

"My god Garcia! How do you do it? These cookies are too good." Moaned Maeve through a mouth full of fudge and biscuit.

"I'm the queen in the kitchen, what can I say." Garcia sang smugly.

"Oh Maeve! Look at them." JJ cooed pointing to Spencer and Eva. Eva had fallen asleep in Reid's lap, her face huddled into his shirt. Her hair stuck up around her face, Reid's hair was also rebelling this way and that. Reid was lent back on their bags, fast asleep, one arm draped over his eyes the other wrapped around Eva, a book still grasped between his fingers.

Garcia snapped a photo. "This is so gonna be on your desk!" She teased.

"Maybe I should get those two kids to bed." Maeve laughed along with the team, but neither Spencer nor Eva stirred.

 **Thanks for reading, that was pretty long for me! I'm from Britain so I based the baseball game on our version called Rounders, so if some of the terms seem different that's why. You may find lots of British slang in here, I'm trying to use mostly American i.e I've changed sofa to couch among other things.**

 **Please review, it'd mean the world to me!**


	4. The Daddy-Daughter Day

**(Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds, it hurts, I know!)**

 **This chapter is a bit shorter, I do apologise. The last chapter was 5k and I this one is less exciting because it's a day at home. Things are going to start to pick up soon, trust me.**

 **Please read and review it makes me super happy, and then I want to write more and more and more!**

 **This'll just be another fluffy and cute chapter, so enjoy!**

Maeve got out of bed and stretched her arms out wide. Garcia had persuaded her to go shopping. Her excuse being that Maeve needed maternity clothes, (though Maeve had pointed out that she still had clothes from her pregnancy with Eva.)

She got changed and sat back down on the bed next to Spencer, who had started stirring.

"Morning." She chirped and he groaned, his eyes remained closed. The bags under his eyes were more prominent today. During the night Eva had been sick and Reid sorted it out, knowing Maeve was going shopping early. Eva had insisted she'd been sick because of the "yucky gweens", referring to the broccoli she'd had for dinner. Reid knew very well that it had been all the "choc choc" and fudge cookies he'd let her eat, but he hadn't told Maeve that. This all occurred at 2 in the morning. It had taken 2 hours for Reid to clean up and calm Eva down (who had cried for a while.) He read her a small book to help her go back to sleep and then he'd crawled back into bed where Maeve was still fast asleep.

"Rough night?" Giggled Maeve. Reid opened his eyes and groaned again.

"Come on Spence, you know that was a bit much chocolate."

"Hmm" Reid grunted, rolling his face back into the silent pillow.

"I think you and Eves need to give up chocolate for lent next year. You know what you need now?" She whispered in his ear, rubbing her hand from his hair down his back, sending a shiver over him.

He turned his face back to her and smiled. "What's that?"

"Coffee." She said smacking his shoulder.

"Urgh." Reid moaned.

"Just give it up. You cannot give up coffee for nine months." She jibbed, Reid huffed but didn't disagree.

"I'm going to have some breakfast then leave. I would take Eva, but if she's ill, I don't want to make her worse. So I guess you have a Daddy-daughter day on your hands." She winked.

"Isn't it a bit early for shopping? Wait what time is it?" He asked squinting at Maeve.

"It's 8, but you know Garcia."

"Okay" he sighed groggily. "Have fun." He raised his lips up to her and she bent down and let him kiss her cheek. She turned her head slyly and planted her lips on Spencer's. His eyes fluttered open and he grinned in pleasure.

"Love you. Don't make too much mess." Maeve warned.

"Love you." Reid yawned sleepily, letting his head fall back into the pillow. Maeve shook her head and smiled.

Before getting breakfast, Maeve checked on her daughter. Eva was fast asleep on her side, her hair moulding into the pillow. Gently Maeve lifted Eva into her arms, careful not to wake her. She stirred, making small whimpers, but remained limp in Maeve's arms. Quietly Maeve carried her out and into her and Spencer's bedroom, Spence was already asleep again. She lay Eva down next to Spencer and poked him a little. He opened his eyes slightly and twisted around to cuddle his daughter. Eva unconsciously curled into Reid's arms, and as she usually did, she rubbed he face softly in his bed shirt. Neither of them stirred again as Maeve snuck out.

Maeve stood outside their house, waiting for Penelope to arrive. Maeve's phone started buzzing urgently, the caller ID was unknown.

"Hello?" Maeve called down the line. She was answered with static.

"Hello, Maeve Reid speaking, who's this?" She thought she heard someone breathing and a shudder crawled across her limbs. She frowned at her cell and hung up. The number didn't call back after a few minutes so she assumed it was a wrong number.

"Someone's eager to get going. I thought you'd at least invite me in for coffee." Pouted Garcia, who hopped out her taxi.

"I would, but Spence and Eva are still asleep."

"I thought they were supposed to be early birds? Does that mean my little cuddle monster isn't coming?" Penelope blubbed.

"She had too much dessert yesterday. Spence was up at 2 with her, I don't know when he came back to bed, but they're both flat out." She grimaced and Garcia's eyebrows arched in concern.

"Aw, my poor babies. I'll have to get Eva a 'get well soon' present." Garcia decided, Maeve rolled her eyes and laughed.

"You spoil her too much."

"I already told you I'm not stopping." Garcia confirmed, heading around to the passengers door.

"I guess it's alright, just don't get her chocolate. I think Spencer and I need to have a discussion on that." The two women laughed and pulled away from the house.

Reid opened his eyes slowly. A ray of sunlight had managed to squeeze through a gap in the curtain and land gracefully over his face. He made to move, when to his upmost confusion, he saw Eva lay in his arms. _Maeve must of put her in here,_ he thought, hoping Eva hadn't been running around the house whilst he'd been sleeping.

He carefully pulled his arms from under her and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Eva began making small, squeaky noises, as she shifted out of unconsciousness. Spencer stretched a little and sat for a moment, collecting his thoughts and waking up properly. He stroked his daughter's back and her eyes opened a crack. She wasn't in her normal happy mood, Spencer didn't blame her after the rocky night they'd been through.

"Time to wake up, Eves. You want some breakfast?" She turned away from him with a grunt. Reid went to roll her over when she screeched at him.

"Eva, stop being a grump." He warned attempting to lift her. He lifted her arms, but Eva squirmed through them. She crossed her arms, stuck out her bottom lip and looked down at her toes.

"What's wrong? Is your tummy still poorly?" He asked, not touching her this time. She didn't answer, remaining in her stubborn stance. Spencer decided to get changed, rather than aggrovate her more. When he finished he glanced back over at the bed. Eva no longer had her back to him, and was watching him with a quivering bottom lip, her eyes dampening.

"Did you have a bad night?" He asked sitting next to her, and stroking her small curls. She nodded quietly, before snivelling and bursting into tears.

"Shh, shh, I know. Do you need a cuddle?" He asked.

"Dep." she whispered pulling herself over to him.

After she calmed down, Reid took her into the kitchen and strapped her into her highchair.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Reid smiled at her, pulling down some cereal. Eva's eyes flashed over cookie crunch and she clapped eagerly.

"Aw, sorry Eves, I don't think you're allowed any chocolate." The little girl's lip trembled, her face crestfallen. Reid rubbed his cheek thoughtfully, chewing his lip.

"Oh alright." He bent down by her ear. "But don't tell mummy." Eva nodded mischievously. Reid put his finger to his lips and his daughter followed the action.

"Tsssssss." She spluttered showering Spencer in spit.

After breakfast Reid carried Eva to the bathroom and sat her on their counter. He put a small blob of toothpaste on her yellow tooth brush patterned with flowers, and handed it to her, she stuck in in her mouth and chewed it slowly. After brushing their teeth, Reid smoothed down his hair. Eva turned from her seat on the counter, staring at her own reflection in the mirror, which dominated the bathroom wall. She watched how her daddy flicked his hair about, and smoothed it down in places and she did the same to her own hair, which was practically a carbon copy of Spencer's curls. Reid finished and looked down to see his daughter had styled her hair exactly as he had his own. He laughed at his tiny twin.

"Are you feeling up to the park?" He winked, helping her off the counter. Her face lit up in a smile.

"Dep pe's Daddy!" She gurgled happily.

"Do you want to go pick some clothes?" They rarely let her do this because she would pull out a summer dress for winter and a fluffy jumper for summer. She grinned crazily at the offer and darted from the room.

"Careful." Reid called after her, shaking his head.

He wandered into her room, where Eva had flung a pile of clothes across the floor.

"You can't wear all those." He laughed.

"No, silly Daddy." She giggled. "Daddy pick won." She ordered pointing at the small pile of pinks and yellows.

"Oh right, well, I pick these..." he held up a pair of yellow 3/4 length jeans, which he'd picked out for her on a shopping trip. "And this" he lifted a small pink checked blouse.

"Is that okay with Evesie?" He asked, she nodded vigorously and tried to pull of her nighty, managing to get it stuck over her head. She whimpered a small "help" and Reid laughed, stepping in to help her.

Reid stepped out the door, with Eva in one arm, a folded stroller in the other, his keys in his mouth and his wallet and cell phone secured in his back pocket. The phone rang as he walked away from the door and he groaned. He stood for a minute wondering whether to rush back in and pick it up.

"Come on Daddeee." Eva nagged kicking her legs gently against him.

 _To hell with it_ , Reid thought and he skipped down the path.

The park was around a 20 walk, from in the stroller he heard Eva 'oooo' and 'ahh' at all the animals she saw. When they got to the park, a big golden retriever bounded by.

"Daddy! Daddy, woof woof, look Daddy!" Eva called excitedly.

"Yea, it is. You like doggies don't you?" He asked.

"Dep." she said nodding. Reid rubbed his neck thoughtfully, _I'll have to look into that_ , he thought.

Eva went straight to the slide, Reid caught her each time and she'd potter back up the steps. She then went on the swings, "higher, Daddy, higher" she'd yell if he slowed.

Reid was spinning her on the roundabout when he saw something glint across the metal. The sharp glare landed on his shirt and he gazed around for the cause. He was certain it was a pair of binoculars shining on him, but he saw no children using a pair and there were no bird watchers. He shaded his eyes from the glare and it suddenly vanished. Spencer frowned, searching for the source.

"Daddy stop, Evesie dizzy." Cried Eva, trying to get off before Spencer had even stopped. He couldn't stop it soon enough and when her foot touched the ground (which was still moving away from her), she tripped and bounced off.

"Eves." Reid yelled, stumbling over to her. She lifted her head and wailed. Reid picked her up and rocked her, trying to calm her sobs.

"Sorry sweetheart, Daddy wasn't paying enough attention." He admitted kissing her forehead gently. He found a bench and sat her on his lap facing him. Tears flowed down her cheeks and she hiccuped through sobs.

"Show me where you hurt." He said, stroking her back. She displayed her palms, one of which had a small bit of skin rubbed off, but no blood, the other had shapes of stones imprinted on it. Reid kissed each palm tenderly, Eva continued to pout.

"Where else?" She showed him her elbow, which had a few scratches that were bleeding slightly. Spencer pulled out a tissue and gently dabbed the injury, he then kissed it as well and then blew a raspberry on her cheek. She giggled, her breath hitching slightly from the tears.

"All better?" He asked and she nodded, reciprocating his kisses by giving him a big one on his cheek.

"We should probably get you home, little girl. You need some food and then it's nap time." She looked up at him with puppy eyes.

"Alright you can go on the slide a few more times."

Reid settled a groggy Eva into her bed, and he slipped out into the corridor taking a book to read from the several bookcases that lined the lounge.

The house phone flashed informing him of a voicemail. He played it, but heard nothing.

 _"Press one to hear the voicemail again_." Came to monotone voice. Reid pressed it but again was faced with silence. He shrugged, deleting it and settling down with his book.

Maeve, Garcia and Emily bust through the door after 45 minutes.

"Oh hey, you're back. Have fun?" Reid asked from behind the couch, sticking his head over to smile. He left his book on the table and trotted over to them.

Garcia dropped several bags on the floor and smiled slyly at Reid.

"Oh it was wonderful." She beamed.

"I see you dragged Emily with you." Chuckled Reid.

"Oh no, she actually consented this time." Garcia nodded. Reid lent over to kiss Maeve and then looked down at the bags.

"Hmm, I can see you had fun." He smirked.

"You can complain later, I want to see my goddaughter right now." Garcia demanded, slamming her foot on the floor. Conveniently, Eva wandered in, thumb in her mouth, her stuffed fox clutched in her fist.

"There's my favourite girl." Penelope shrilled, picking up the child and swinging her around. Eva opened her palm and showed Garcia.

"What you got there?" She asked looking closer.

"Evesie falled over." Mumbled Eva, presenting her battle wounds.

"Doing what?" Frowned Maeve, looking over to her husband.

"Let's just say she's not quite ready for the roundabout just yet." Reid grimaced giving his wife apologetic eyes. Maeve took Eva off Garcia and gave her a squeeze. Eva looked over at her Daddy naughtily, then whispered in Maeve's ear. Maeve opened her mouth in mock shock and then kissed her teeth sending Reid a you're-in-for-it-now look.

"You gave her cookie crunch for breakfast!? What did I say about chocolate." She reprimanded, Reid smiled sheepishly.

 **Aw the Reid family are too cute! Eva is actually based on my 2 year old cousin. He's at that stage where his speech is improving, but he still has his own adorable language. He says words like "Dep" instead of "yep", and (my favourite!) "choc-choc" instead of chocolate.**

 **You may notice the story picking up speead in the next few chapters, this is because the main plot begins several months in the future. You may notice some things which will piece together and contribute to the main plot, but I didn't want to rush it.**

 **Please read and review, and to everyone who did THANK YOU! It really means the world!**


	5. Back to Work

**(Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds)**

 **Sorry the chapters might not be so regular, I'm going on holiday for a few days and there is no internet. I will strive to upload a chapter a day but it'll be a struggle, so I'm warning you in advance in case I don't upload for over a day.**

 **So things will start to pick up now, the real plot will begin. Also in this story Maeve was never kidnapped, therefore she never actually met/knew her stalker.**

 **I just wanted to run something past everyone. When the main plot of this story is out of the way, I was thinking of carrying it on with a chapter every once in a while, because I really like Spencer's family. Would anyone be interested in me doing that, and writing more about Spencer, Maeve, Eva and the baby's life together?**

 **Please read and review and I shall be eternally grateful!**

Reid trudged into work early as he always did and saw a hefty pile of paperwork waiting for him. He groaned. He got a good way through the pile when the others arrived and hissed at their own paperwork.

"I'm swamped!" Cried Morgan, smacking his head into his desk.

Garcia walked through the bull pen with an armful of files.

"We have a case my doves." She called as she made her way up the steps. They all followed her to the conference room, equipped with coffee.

By the time Spencer arrived home that night he was exhausted. Maeve saw this and she snuggled up to him on the couch.

"Guess who's still awake?" She whispered softly in his ear. He smirked at her and rolled his eyes as Eva tottled in dragging a well-loved stuffed fox behind her.

"She wouldn't go to sleep without seeing you." Admitted Maeve, pulling the child onto the couch between them. Being sleepy herself, Eva simply leaned her head against Spencer and looked up at them both. They smiled back at her and flicked on her favourite show. She was fast asleep within a few minutes.

Spencer and his team finally had a day off around a week later. They all had dinner together at Rossi's, which was becoming a regular occurrence, though this time Rossi cooked his famous spaghetti. Morgan and Garcia begged them all to come out for drinks after. Spencer was the hardest to persuade. Alex hadn't felt like going, so she offered to babysit the kids, who were staying over at Rossi's house. Spencer had argued that because Maeve couldn't drink then it wouldn't be fair. Maeve quickly countered this by informing Reid that she was quite content drinking Diet Coke and that it was him who didn't like bars and drinking. It took Garcia and Morgan's best persuasion (and a bit of help from Maeve) before he finally agreed.

When they got to the bar, Reid tried to get away with having a Diet Coke, but Morgan bought him a beer.

"Just get this down ya kid. You need to start acting your age." Chuckled Morgan, as Reid grimaced from the taste.

"A little beer ain't gonna hurt ya." Morgan insisted, sipping down the suds in the bottom of his glass.

"Morgan's actually right; beer is rich in silicon which increases calcium deposits and minerals for bone tissue, thus strengthening bones. Not only that, it is also said to reduce kidney stones. If you were to consume alcohol on a daily basis the risk of developing a kidney stone is slashed by 40%." Reid rambled, fingering his pint.

"Are you trying to avoid drinking, Spence?" Smirked JJ.

"No, not at all. I'm merely explaining the health benefits associated with beer. Did you know in Amsterdamn they pay alcoholics in beer for cleaning up the city; there is a government funded organisation, and for a days work they receive: 10, half a packet of rolling tobacco and 5 beers."

"Reid! You are so avoiding your drink!" Laughed Garcia, tipping Reid's beer back as he took a gulp, causing him to splutter and cough, and leaving them in fits of giggles.

"Alright! I'll drink it, just don't try and drown me in it." Panted a breathless Reid. Maeve nudged his shoulder and he finished the pint.

"Happy?" He asked, they all nodded.

"But we finished ours about 10 minutes ago, so we got you another." Emily said sliding it over to him. He groaned loudly.

Although they didn't drink often, they all knew Spencer was a light weight. At his and Maeve's wedding, after their first dance, Morgan and Reid had started drinking heavily and ended up doing a duet and a dance due. By 3am, Reid was crashed out across a table and some chairs and Morgan was holding his head.

So it didn't take long for Reid's speech to slur. Morgan had got them shots, he was on the verge of drunk, just edging on tipsy.

"Pretty boy, let's dance!" Morgan pleaded, he didn't need to as Reid agreed instantly, already wiggling to the music.

"I jus' need t..the bathroom." Reid giggled, stumbling off in another direction.

He was coming out of the men's restroom, when a woman tapped his shoulder lightly. He turned unsteadily to face a pretty woman with a smile on her face.

"Hi." She mumbled.

"Hey." He slurred back, he turned to leave, his normally whirring brain was betraying him from the alcohol he'd consumed.

"Where you going?" She asked sweetly, grasping his wrist tightly.

"'M gonna dancccce! And uh... sing?" It was unlike him to forget what he was doing, but he shrugged and turned to leave again. A sharp sting erupted in his wrist, and he frowned down as the woman's fingernails bit into his skin. He swore she drew blood as he tugged away.

"Come with me. You can come back to mine." She whispered, pulling him closer. The still conscious part of Reid's mind warned that she was trying to kiss him. He yanked himself away. He showed his ring to her, suddenly angry.

"'M married!" He yelled. Hotch was stood close by. He'd followed Reid to make sure he didn't pass out in the sink. He hadn't seen what went down, but he saw Reid become angry.

"Reid, lets go back." Hotch said stepping in and pulling Spencer's aggressive eyes away for the woman, who looked as if she'd burst into tears.

"What was that about?" Hotch muttered.

"She wanted me t...to go to herzzz." Reid slurred, a hint of annoyance lacing his words.

"Oh. Just forget about it, we're here to have fun, right?" He slapped the young mans shoulder and Reid's smile returned. When they got back, as promised, Reid and Morgan danced. It became a competitive dance off, which they both drew in.

Garcia brought over a tray of drinks to the team, and a very exhausted and panting Morgan and Reid. She gave Maeve her half a pint of lemonade, and a glass of water to Reid and Morgan who stuck their tongues at her. Reid pouted when he saw their alcohol and his water.

"Earlier you would've been happy with that." Rossi laughed when he saw Reid sticking his bottom lip out at them.

"We're not eve...even drunked!" Moaned Morgan. Reid started giggling hysterically at what he'd said, though he was even more wasted. Morgan started chuckling as well and the team watched them as if they were madmen.

"Sure you're not, and I'm the queen of England." Garcia said sternly. Reid burst out into a fit a laughter, which started Morgan off. Reid doubled over hiccuping through the giggles. He lent back and slipped right from his stool and onto the floor. Morgan boomed with laughter. The others looked down concerned, to find Reid on his back, trying to roll over like a turtle on its shell. He was still giggling insanely. Morgan helped him back on his stool and he was forced to drink his water.

Maeve took a sip of her lemonade and smiled at the taste. She took a big gulp, but realised something was wrong. She looked up and down at the glass. She sipped it again trying to decipher the flavour.

"Garcia, what did you get me?" Maeve asked.

"It just lemonade, my sweet." Informed Garcia, taking a swig from her own lemonade.

"Can I try yours?" Garcia passed over her drink and Maeve tasted it. It tasted fine. She took another swig from hers and knew something was different.

"What's up?" Hotch asked frowning. Maeve didn't answer straight away, still licking her lips. Her eyes went wide suddenly and the glass slipped from her hand and spilt across the table.

"THERE'S ALCOHOL IN THAT!" She cried. Hotch picked up her glass and tried what was left in it. He could taste it, the subtle burn of vodka.

"Holy shit! Someone's spiked her drink!" Emily gasped. Maeve started panicking, her breath hitching in her throat.

"I'm pregnant!" She blurted. She rushed off to the toilet, Garcia close on her heels. JJ got up and followed, Emily was too stunned to move. Reid looked up in confusion, still smiling from their laughing.

"Wha's wrong? Where Mae go?" He stuttered, looking around.

"Someone spiked her drink." Fretted Emily.

"Huh!?" Reid croaked in disbelief.

Maeve stuck her fingers down her throat as she knelt in front of the toilet bowl. She gagged and heaved. She tried again and an acidic taste filled her mouth. She emptied her stomach in the toilet. She felt a soft hand rub her back gently. Maeve kept going until she knew her stomach was empty. She sat back and cried into Garcia's arms.

"I'm sorry, I should've tasted yours first." Garcia apologised.

"It's fine. I'm fine. That just scared me." She said shakily, pushing the hair from her face.

"Let's get you home. Oh and what happened to the no-coffee-and-no-alcohol-Spencer?" Maeve laughed as Garcia heaved her to her feet.

They called two taxis back to Rossi's, they all seemed concerned about Maeve, even Reid, who was still highly intoxicated.

They got back to Rossi's and Maeve went straight to the room she'd put Eva down in. Her daughter was lay across the double bed, her fox cwtched in her arm. Maeve felt miserable and she lay next to her little girl and pulled her close to her. The long night and the weight of crying crashed down on her and her eyes dropped shut. Reid stumbled in quietly, seeing his family sleeping, the sensible part of him knew not to talk or shout, but this was still mostly shadowed by his drunken self. He saw them sleeping and smiled. He kissed Maeve's cheek softly and brushed Eva's locks from her face and kissed her forehead. He slipped back out, knowing he was too drunk to sleep this far from the toilet.

"Is Maeve alright?" Asked Alex when Reid came out. Reid grinned and gave them a thumbs up.

"Don' trust 'im, he'zzz still drunk." Laughed Morgan taking a swig from the wine Rossi had opened earlier. He handed the bottle to Reid who tried to chug the bottle, but Hotch pulled it away from him.

"You boys need to sober up. Stop drinking!" He shouted pulling the glass of wine Morgan had found on the counter off him. Hotch and Rossi took all the alcohol and licked it in a cupboard.

"Don' you trust meee?" Groaned Reid, who was now lay upside down on the couch with his feet stuck up in the air.

"I trust _you_ not to drink, but not Morgan. And if he drinks he'll make you drink." Said Hotch, folding his arms.

"We're going to bed now. You two sober up and get some sleep. Oh, and don't be sick on anything or else you're cleaning it." Rossi warned. Hotch turned to him shaking his head and smiling.

"Thank god we have a day off tomorrow." He said and Rossi chuckled with him, departing for their rooms.

"Well they're no fun." Whispered Morgan to Reid. "Let's go raid Rossi's drinks cabinet." Morgan got up from the couch, pushing Reid's leg off him. Reid flipped off the couch onto the floor with a thump.

"Come on pretty boy." Reid scrambled off the floor, swaying.

"Com'in." He hopped to his feet, but his knees buckled as he stepped and he nose dived into the ground.

"Pretty boy?" Morgan called from the study. He came back into the front room to find Reid passed out on the floor. Morgan laughed, but he blanched and struggled to keep his balance. He ended up crashing on the couch, drooling on the cushion.

 **Cwtch is a welsh word, it's basically a cuddle but it lasts a long time, so if you were to snuggle up to someone you could call that a Cwtch.**

 **Thanks for reading, sorry it's short, hopefully I'll be able to post again tomorrow, but I'm super busy so I apologise in advance is I don't.**


	6. The Mall and The Hangover

**(DISCLAIMER: I do not own Criminal Minds)**

 **I promise that the chapters will get longer as soon as I'm off holiday, but it's just a struggle to write so much and check it in one day.**

 **This is set the days that follows their night out. Next chapter will be more of Eva, Maeve and Spencer.**

Henry was up first, which meant JJ and Will were also up at 6.45, their heads hammering against their skull. They felt bad for Morgan and Reid who had piled on the drinks. They tried to contain Henry as long as they could, but when Jack came in and Eva's chatty little voice vibrated through the wall, they knew that they'd have to get up and out of bed.

JJ slipped out of her bedroom once dressed and freshened up in their onsuite. She crept to the room next to hers and cracked it open. Eva was sat on the bed in a butterfly streaked nighty, talking amicably to Maeve, who was still half asleep.

"Do you want us to take her? We're up now because of Henry, so it's no trouble. Maeve lifted herself off the bed and smiled.

"That's alright. I need to get up anyway. How the head?" She grimaced sympathetically.

"It's not so bad, I don't even want to imagine the headache Spence has right now." Laughed JJ, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Maeve's eyes went wide with humorous shock.

"Where is he?" She asked.

"Last I saw of him, he and Morgan were drinking Rossi's wine. We left them downstairs to sober up and I didn't hear them come back up." Meave covered her mouth to stifle a laugh; Reid rarely drank, but when he did the consequences were usually the same.

Rossi poked his head through the door and smiled at the women.

"Looks like everyone's awake upstairs. Let's head down and grab some breakfast. Oh, and we will see what state Morgan and Reid are in." He chuckled, urshering them out.

Garcia came downstairs, heading for the kitchen, not seeing hide or hair of her Junior-G-Man or her hot chocolate. The others all joined her in the kitchen sitting at the counter.

"Where's Spencer and Derek?" Alex asked, glancing around.

"Oi, MORGAN! REID!" Yelled Hotch, causing Henry and Jack to laugh into their bowls of cereal. No answer came so he made his way to the front room where they'd left them. A loud laugh was heard and he rushed back in.

"You guys should see this. Garcia bring your phone." He chortled, motioning them into the front room.

They all left their stools, including the kids, who were incredibly excited to see what Hotch discovered.

Morgan was lay half on the couch, with his legs scraping the floor and his body twisted uncomfortably as he snored lightly. Reid on the other hand, was spread eagle on the floor, his face kissing the floor, mumbling quietly to himself as he slept. Garcia snapped a photo as the others laughed. Morgan stirred and awoke to find his whole team watching him, their faces red with laughter. He frowned and sat up, only to slide off the side the the couch and painfully land on his butt.

"Wha'?" He gasped, rubbing his backside, he saw Reid flat out on the floor and memories of the night before perforated his foggy mind. An intense throb resonated through his skull.

"Bit much to drink?" Asked Will, offering Derek a hand. He took it gratefully, but was not prepared for the dizziness that standing came with. He sat back on the couch holding his head.

"Come on kids, let's finish breakfast." Alex ordered, pushing the three youngsters away from the hungover agents.

"What about uncle Spence?" Worried Henry, trying to look back at his godfather.

"He just needs a bit more sleep." She insisted, exiting the room.

"Spence?" Maeve said tapping his cheek. He frowned and continued gently mumbling. He remained unconscious. Rossi left the room as Hotch tried to wake the kid.

"Hey, Reid. You're late for work." He called. The young agent still didn't wake, which surprised everyone. Rossi came back in with a glass of water.

"Aw, Rossi man, that's just plain cruel." Morgan groaned, his headache remaining constant. Rossi shrugged, he tapped Reid's cheek and the kid only flinched. He positioned the glass over Reid's face and poured a big splash onto the unsuspecting agent. Reid's face contorted into panic and he sat up coughing and spluttering.

He was wet. _W_ _hy am I wet?_ He thought rubbing his eyes which stung from the light and the water.

His whole body ached, especially his head. It felt as if he'd lit a firework and it was only now being released.

Garcia couldn't help feeling bad when Reid woke up as if he were drowning. He squinted up at them all and put his head between his knees breathing heavily. He lifted his head back up at them and that's when they notcied the bruises.

"Christ, did you take on Morgan when we got to bed, 'cus he clearly won." Rossi grinned. Reid touched his face and pulled back in pain. A purple bruise was blossoming over his left cheek, branching over the bridge of his nose. His bottom lip appeared bloody, and there was a small cut on it where the blood had come from. Reid's mouth tasted metallic from the blood, but the taste came no where near to the nausea in the pit of his stomach and the blinding pain in his skull.

"I don't think so." He mumbled hoarsely.

"Don't tell me Dr Spencer Reid has forgotten. _The_ Dr Spencer Reid?" Laughed Emily.

"Pretty sure he faceplanted the floor when we went to..." Morgan stopped himself, glancing sheepishly at his feet.

"Oh no, I remember. You were going to raid Rossi's drinks cabinet, I think I passed out before I joined you." Reid added, unhelpfully. Rossi raised his eyebrows at the two men. Spencer realised his mistake and bit his lip. "We didn't though." He promised in shame.

"You'd probably be in hospital having your stomach's pumped if you had." Rossi said.

"Why do I drink?" Groaned a pained Reid, clutching his head, his leg bounced as he tried to bear the agony crushing his body.

Rossi rolled his eyes. "I'll get some aspirin." He left for the bathroom.

"Want any breakfast?" JJ asked in an overly sweet voice. Reid shook his head miserably. Garcia skipped back in with a slice of buttered toast. She sat on the coach next to Reid's hunched figure.

"It'll probably make you feel better." She chomped, sending crumbs across the floor. The smell of the toast wafted up Spencer's nostrils, an acidic bile filled his throat and he felt his stomach rise. He stumbled to his feet and darted off to the downstairs toilet, his hand clutched to his mouth. Garcia grimaced sheepishly.

"Whoops." She hissed, biting her lip. "Sorry Reid!" She called after him and the sound of a retch followed. The second one was quieter and the team pretended not to hear. Rossi came back in looking around for Spencer.

"Where'd he go?" He asked. The others pointed down the hall and Rossi's lips pursed together.

"Go help yourself to food. I'll sort Reid out. Morgan you should try and eat something, it should make you feel better." Morgan reluctantly trudged to the kitchen with the others.

Rossi got to the bathroom, to find Reid sat against the bath tub, passed out again. He slapped the kids non-bruised cheek and he jolted awake.

"Here kid take these. They will help." Reid took the pills gratefully and lent back against the bath, swiping sweat from his brow.

"I'll stay here for a bit, if that's alright." Breathed Reid, trying to ease his rolling stomach.

"Sure. Breakfasts in the kitchen when you're ready." Reid grimaced, but nodded.

Morgan had his head resting on the counter, a glass of water stood next to him. The others were chatting and eating breakfast. Rossi popped out a few aspirin for Morgan, then got himself some toast.

"How's Reid?" Asked Hotch.

"Kids still out of it." Rossi took a bite of his toast to ease the rumbling of his stomach.

"W'as wong wid daddy?" Eva asked from her high chair, looking around with concern.

"Uh... he had too much chocolate last night, like you did last week." Maeve said, smirking at the team.

"Daddy's sick?" She whispered tearfully.

"He's alright, just go easy on him okay." JJ added. Morgan rubbed his eyes, trying to ease the throb behind them.

"Can you talk a little quieter?" He mumbled grumpily. Rossi stuck a piece of toast in front of him insistently.

"Eat." He ordered. Morgan rolled his eyes, but ate the toast in a disgruntled manner. His stomach seemed to ease its churning and he wolfed down the rest of the buttered slice.

Reid stumbled into the kitchen and leaned over the counter, his head caressing the marble surface.

"Stay away from me with that toast Rossi." He warned, not looking up. Rossi gave the toast to Morgan instead.

"You do know we're planning to go to the mall today?" Garcia informed, biting her lower lip. Reid gave her an are-you-serious-look and returned to moping over the counter.

They arrived at the mall 2 hours later. The girls took off to the clothes shops, leaving Morgan, Reid, Will, Rossi , Hotch and the two boys standing around like flamingos. Reid had shades over his eyes and his fingers pressed against his skull every few seconds when a wave of pain broke through. Morgan still felt a throb in his head, but could cope with it. Everyone else was faring well.

Spencer broke from the group and sat on a bench, hunched over, his legs jiggling intensely. Rossi went and sat with him to see if he was alright.

"You guys go ahead, i'll stay here 'till you're all done. I don't think I can physically go shopping right now." He rubbed his forehead as his headache intensified.

"Alright. We won't be long, I can't promise the same for the girls though." Reid caught him wink as he got up. Spencer looked back down at his shaking converse.

Garcia dragged Maeve into a baby clothes shop and the other girls tagged along, allured by the irresistible charm of children's clothing. Garcia was touching everything she liked, insisting that if they had a boy they'd get this, and if it was a girl they'd get that.

"You have to find out the gender so I can start buying things." Begged Garcia.

"Me and Spencer are both doctors. We will know soon enough." Dismissed Maeve, Garcia squealed with excitement. Maeve's phone began to ring and the other women took Eva with them to look at the clothes her age. Maeve walked to the corner and answered her phone.

"Dr Reid speaking. Who's this?" She asked. There was no answer, so she cleared her throat, glancing at the ID; unknown.

"Maeve Reid here, can I help you?" She waited.

 _"Reid?"_ Came a faint mumble, in that sounded distorted.

"Uh... yea? I'm sorry, did you know me by a different name?" She asked. Heavy breathing followed until the incessant beep of a hang up sounded. Maeve frowned down at her phone.

"Who was that, Maeve?" Alex asked, coming over to join her.

"I don't actually know. I think they knew me as Maeve Donovan, but they hung up before I could find out much more." She continued to frown in confusion at the phone.

"If it was important they'll ring back, I'm sure." Reassured Alex.

"Now come over here and tell me that this dress is the cutest thing you've ever seen and that you'll let us buy it for Eva." Maeve rolled her eyes and followed Alex to an excited Penelope and Eva; Eva was jumping up and down and pointing wildly at all the colours.

The girls went in almost every clothes shop they could find. They met up with the guys outside a sports shop, they all looked incredibly bored.

"Where's Spencer?" Maeve asked worriedly.

"We left him on a bench at the entrance." Chuckled Rossi. Sure enough they found Reid sat where they left him, his head lolling down and his shades slipping from the bridge of his nose. Morgan smirked at Rossi as he neared the younger agent.

"Morgan." Muttered Hotch warningly. Morgan snuck right up in front of Reid, positioning his hands near his face. He smiled back at their family, most of whom were looking on disapprovingly. Morgan shrugged, opened his hands apart and smacked them together.

Reid jolted awake, his sunglasses sprawling over his head and he jumped several inches off the bench. He stood up quickly, glancing around in bewilderment at his laughing team, including Maeve, Will and their children.

"Wha's goin on?" He asked groggily, sitting back down.

"Well, someone fell asleep at the mall." Informed Morgan, who was still recovering from his fits of laughter. Reid frowned apologetically.

"Oh, sorry." He mumbled scratching his head. Spencer's swelling over his face had gone down completely, leaving him with a bruise that snaked over his cheek, across his nose and licking his eye slightly. His lip was much better, only showing a small red line where he'd bust it open on Rossi's floor. Eva squirmed in Maeve's arms to get to her father, but she was held back.

The team went the seperate ways when they got to their allocated cars.

"I want to see Eva in that dress when we see you next." Garcia called to Maeve as she settled a groggy Eva in her car seat.

"That's a done deal!" Maeve cried back, she couldn't wait to see Eva in her new clothes either.

"Daddeee." Wailed Eva, bobbing her head to try and see her father. Spencer smiled at her, planting a kiss on her forehead. She raised her arms to be picked up.

"We're going now Eves, you can have a cuddle when we get home." Eva's bottom lip jutted out and began to tremble. Reid palmed her face gently, and joined Maeve in the front. Eva started to cry softly into her stuffed fox. Spencer tried to shush her, but even then she hiccuped with sobs. It took a few minutes for the car to settle and calm down.

"Have fun?" Maeve whispered to her husband. She got no reply and turned to see Spencer with his eyes closed and his head resting on the window. She smiled at her two sleeping charges, both of whom's hair was sticking out all over the place.

 **Next morning**

"Is Spence in?" JJ asked with concern, laying her bag on her desk and looking over to Reid's empty desk.

"I haven't seen him yet." Admitted Morgan, leaning back in his swivel chair and grinning. Hotch was stood outside his office, waiting for him team.

"He's not officially late. We're just used to him being in super early. He still has 10 minutes to get here." Emily added and as if on cue the door swung open and Reid shuffled in, a steamy cup of coffee gripped tightly in his hand and a pair of shades covering his eyes, which only seemed to highlight his bruises.

"Still not recovered?" Chuckled Emily as Reid slunk into his chair.

"Umph, you could say that." He mumbled taking a swig of his coffee, and pulling some paperwork towards him. JJ and Emily perched on his desk watching him, Morgan leaned in his chair to get a look. Alex set down her crossword and frowned at Reid who still had his shades on.

"What?" Reid asked, looking up from the work.

"You still have sunglasses on." Hotch said from the steps, as he made his way to his team, Garcia was also hobbling over in her high heels, holding several case files and Rossi waltzed through the doors, coming to see what the commotion was.

"Look, Rossi was later than me- not that we're even late- so why don't you annoy him." He groaned, rubbing his head, trying extinguish the throb under his fingers.

"First of all, we're not annoying." Chided JJ, smirking. "Second, Rossi is always in at this time, you on the other hand are not. And third, you're still wearing your sunglasses and acting suspicious." Reid grunted dismissively at JJ, rubbing his head more intensely. Morgan grinned and made his way over.

"What's going on my doves?" Garcia sang, setting the files down.

"Reid's acting suspicious." Alex laughed as Spencer shot her a pout.

"What happened to no team profiling?" Reid stammered. Morgan shook his head at the kid, and in a swift movement pulled the sunglasses off his face.

They all gasped. Behind his sunglasses, Spencer's bruises had expanded, he now sported a nasty shinner. Reid desperately tried to cover his face, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. Emily pulled his hand from over his eye, and gaped at the purplish bruise enveloping his eye.

"Jeez Kiddo!" Chuckled Rossi. Reid managed to nab his sunglasses off a shocked Morgan and slip them back on.

"It's fine. Garcia do we have a case?" He babbled, trying to change to subject.

"How hard did you hit Rossi's floor?" Hotch insisted, frowning at his agent.

"Not that hard. I don't know, I can't remember clearly enough. Anyway, case?" He motioned to Garcia.

"Pretty sure he nosed dived into the floor." Laughed Morgan. Garcia frowned at his lack of sympathy.

"Case!?" Reid practically pleaded.

"Fine. But you're not allowed to wear those inside." Hotch ordered. Reid kissed his teeth, glancing at the team, who agreed with Hotch. He sighed and slowly pulled his glasses back off, trying to shield his black eye from their gazes.

"Much better." Chortled Morgan, Reid glared at him the best he could, but his bruised eye squinted painfully instead.

"Let's get some work done." Hotch called, already making his way to the conference room. Gratefully Reid got up and followed him, leaving his team snickering behind.

 **Sorry for the delay, me and my friends are on holiday and we played some drinking games, hence the subject of this story. Hopefully I'll upload another tonight, I should be able to, fingers crossed.**


	7. The Museum

**(Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.)**

 **2 weeks later**

Maeve stood in front of the mirror, guiding her hand over her 10 week maternity bump. It was beginning to become more visible, but she still fit nicely into her normal clothes without showing.

She was going to see her parents with Spencer and Eva. They hadn't told them about the pregnancy; Maeve, Spencer and her parents had extremely busy schedules and so it was a hard task to visit. Reid, his team and Maeve had been given several days off and Maeve's parents had booked a holiday, but had received a few extra days off before they left.

When Maeve's father had suggested a day at the museum and then dinner, Reid was extremely excited. Very few people wanted to go to museums with him, luckily he married into a family similar to himself; especially Maeve's father. Eva was also developing her father's love for museums, Maeve didn't know who was more excited: her daughter or her husband.

Spencer skipped into their bedroom and she rolled her eyes at his peculiarly tidy hair. He was wearing a light grey shirt and dark grey tie under a red cardigan; Maeve's favourite cardigan, she though red suited him well. He had simple dark grey trousers on. On his feet, he had a very Reid-like pair of crimson converse alongside a green stripy sock and a plain magenta one.

Maeve ahe a light blue blouse on and a navy cardigan covering it. She had jeans and boots to go with them.

"You brushed?" Maeve tsked. "I prefer it messy." She said, pulling him onto the bed and running her hands through his curls, fluffing them up.

"Hey!" He yelled, laughing and pulling her hands away from his hair, which was sticking out everywhere now. He managed to pull her on the bed next to him and he rolled, leaning over her face and pinning her arms from messing up his hair anymore. He planted a soft, tender kiss on her lips. Her body arched as he pulled away from her, trying to hold onto the kiss.

"You know what the punishment for messing up my hair is." Smiled Reid, Maeve's eyes went wide.

"Don't you dare..."

"Don't what?" Reid asked sweetly, licking his lips. Before she could stop him, Spencer's long fingers began tickling.

"No...s..stop!" Cried Maeve with laughter, trying to escape him.

"EVA!!! E..E...VA!" She screamed. She kicked her legs at Spencer catching him in the chest, he fell back on the bed and as he started sitting up she was on top of him, straddling him. Eva bolted in and giggled as she climbed on the bed.

"Help me Eves." Panted Maeve. "You need to tickle daddy for mummy okay. I'll hold him."

"Ahhh, noooo." Reid yelled, grinning. Eva started tickling Reid's neck and he squirmed away from her touch, so she got closer. Maeve joined in the tickling and they were all laughing hysterically, even Spencer who was the victim.

Reid finally got away and seeing his hair had returned to its messy state he decided not to mess with fate. He picked up Eva and gathered her things for the day.

Eva was wearing a light yellow dress, adorned with a navy flower on the shoulder. She also had a pair of navy tights on and small yellow boots. Some of her hair was clipped back using a hair slide decorated with a plastic dog (the only part of the outfit she'd chosen.)

All packed and ready they piled into the car, preparing for an exciting day.

The Reid's met the Donovan's at the museum. Reid hopped out of the car and walked over to greet Maeve's parents. Maeve got Eva out of her car seat and settled her on her hip.

"There's my favourite granddaughter!" Smiled Mary, who took Eva from Maeve and gave her a big cuddle.

"What about me?" Laughed Maeve, pretending to sulk. Her dad came over and embraced her.

"And our favourite Daughter and Son-in-law." Joe added, which made Spencer blush.

"Have you set up Skype on the laptop we got you yet?" Maeve asked. Her dad scratched his head and laughed sheepishly.

"Ha...well...uh... Spencer can probably help us with that later." He smiled and Reid nodded.

"Sure. Then we can talk more often." Spence said.

"Well that was the point. I did say that Spence could've set it up when we gave it you." Smirked Maeve, remembering how her father had insisted he was "perfectly capable".

"Alright, alright. Maybe I'm not as qualified as I thought I was." He held his hands up in surrender, chuckling.

As soon as they got inside Reid was pointing at different exhibits and rattling off facts like Wikipedia. Joe walked along with him, listening to what Spencer had to say. Eva was gazing around at the exhibits in her stroller.

"I can't believe how big she's getting." Mary grinned down at the small girl.

"I know. She's talking so much better than last time you saw her."

"Oh and doesn't she look just like you! Especially when her hair grows out; she's got her daddy's hair at the moment though, I mean look at those curls!" Mary carded her hand through Eva's hair and she giggled.

"Well, Spence and I look pretty similar anyway, but her curls are literal a copy of Spencer's. I don't even know if we'll let them grow out, we'll let her decide for herself."

"Either way she's gorgeous. Aren't you sweetie?" Mary smiled and Eva gurgled happily at her grandmother.

"Maybe I should save Dad." Maeve laughed watching Spencer pointing wildly, his mouth running a mile.

"Don't bother, your father enjoys listening to that boy of yours." She followed Maeve's gaze to find her husband nodding thoughtfully at her son-in-law.

The women caught up with Reid and Joe and they talked as they admired the exhibits. Eva started to get restless, Reid unbuckled her and took her hand to walk around on her own. Maeve tapped his shoulder and raised her eyebrows, he shook his head as if reading her mind. "Later" he muttered in her ear.

The five of them sat on the benches outside the museum cafe to have lunch.

"How's work?" Joe asked Maeve, taking a bite from his sandwich.

"Same ole, you know how it is." She winked at her dad, who rolled his eyes.

"What about you, Spencer? How's the FBI treating you?" Mary asked.

"Oh you know." Reid laughed. He cleared his throat. "We've been swamped . Some of the cases have been awful recently, I'm still surprised they gave me time off." Joe raised his eyebrows.

"Well you just stay safe, don't go giving us a heart attack. I've read all about the risks of being an FBI agent." Mary warned.

"Don't worry, I'm needed for my brains not my field performance."

Eva had started on her yogurt, which she'd managed to get over her eyebrow and behind her ears.

"Good?" Maeve asked her.

"Mmmm." She responded the spoon still stuck out of her mouth. They laughed at her messiness.

"What flavour did you get Eves?" Joe queried.

"CHOC-CHOC!" She squealed, showing her grandfather the small chocolate flakes scattered in the vanilla yogurt.

"Of course it is." Joe chuckled, wiping the yogurt from her brow.

Dinner

They sat around the dinner table and Mary served out dinner.

"Mum that's plenty." Maeve said when her mother tried to spoon her more food.

"You can't blame her, sweetie, you never used to eat much."

"Oh I don't know Joe, it looks like she's filled out a little. What have you been feeding these two Spencer?" Chuckled Mary, Maeve shot her a look. Maeve tapped Reid's foot under the table, praying he'd got the signal.

"What apart from chocolate?" Chortled Joe.

Mary sat at the table and began to eat. Maeve took a mouthful and kissed her teeth.

"Were you calling me fat, Mother?" She said calmly. Joe splutted on his wine.

"Oh Maeve, you know I didn't mean that." Mary reassured, blushing red.

"Well..." Reid sighed, and Joe shot him a look. Maeve couldn't help smirking.

"I wouldn't call her fat, but... well I think I'd call her..." he huffed pretending to be thinking, feeling slightly fearful under Joe's frown.

"Pregnant." Silence followed, and Reid nodded, "yea, that's what I'd call her." He reiterated. Mary dropped her fork with a clatter her hands sailing to her mouth. Joe laughed and set down his fork.

"Are you serious!?" Gasped Mary. "You..you're pregnant!?"

"Yep." Maeve giggled when her mother made an incoherent sound. She lept from her chair and attacked Maeve with a bear hug. Joe shook Reid's hand and explained-with tears of laughter-how close he was to smacking the kid when he'd called his daughter fat.

"Oh this is wonderful! I'm going to have another grandchild." Mary was bouncing with excitement.

Joe got up and kissed his daughters forehead congratulating her, whilst Mary wrapped Reid into a suffocating hug.

"How far along are you?" Joe asked returning to his seat, his fingers drumming happily on his knee.

"10 weeks now. We would've told you sooner, but we haven't seen you until now." Maeve replied rubbing her small bump.

"Have you told your mum yet?" Mary asked Reid, who suddenly looked ashamed.

"She's on new medication at the moment, so I've been waiting for a lucid day..." he trailed off sadly.

"Oh I'm sure you'll be able to soon. She'll be thrilled." They didn't bother asking about Spencer's dad, Spencer had never told him about Eva, not that he knew _how_ to tell William Reid who was practically a ghost to him.

They finished their meal with a new found excitement lifting their spirits. Eva got fussy part way through, and Reid ended up sitting her on his lap helping her finish her dinner alongside eating his own.

"Hey, Eves, you want a cookie?" Joe asked. His granddaughter nodded madly, slipping from Spencer's lap and taking her Grandfathers hand.

"Choc-choc?" She asked innocently, looking up at her Grandad with her butter melting hazel eyes.

"Of course!" Joe winked, walking her into the kitchen. He sat her on the counter and offered her a plate filled with chocolate chip cookies.

"Just one now, it's almost bedtime." He got her a glass of milk to dip the cookie in.

"Are you excited to have a baby brother or sister?" He whispered, biting into his own cookie.

"Evesie be big sister!" She chattered, through a mouthful of cookie.

"You sure are." Joe confirmed scruffing up her soft curls, she giggled and jumped into his arms.

 **The main happenings of this story come near the end of Maeve's pregnancy, I estimate that that will be in several chapters time, but just watch out for all the things that lead up to that.**

 **I'm sorry I uploaded this so late, I haven't been getting on with things, hopefully I'll be more organised tomorrow.**

 **Please Review, thanks for reading!**


	8. The Other Parent

**(DISCLAIMER: I do not own criminal minds)**

It was another month before Diana Reid was lucid enough, and Maeve and Reid's schedule was free enough for a visit.

Maeve was showing more now, though her bump was still pretty small. It was the middle of September and the leaves from the small willow tree Spencer and Maeve had been given as a wedding present, were slowly dropping off.

Hotch had managed to nab the team a few days off, which gave Reid enough time to fly out to vegas and tell his mom about her newest grandchild in progress. Garcia came round to the Reid household with some treats for Eva on the plane.

"Really Garcia, you shouldn't have come all the way over to give her some sweets and toys. You spoil her enough already." Reid insisted, feeling bad that Penelope was spending her money on Eva.

"I thought we already discussed that I won't be stopping." She pulled out a pink and white top from her bag holding it up to show the parents. The small top had the words "Big Sister" imprinted on it, in curly pink writing.

"I think you should give Eva to your mum, and see how long it takes her to realise." Chuckled Penelope. Maeve beamed at the top, wishing she'd revealed her pregnancy like this to her parents.

"D'you see what this says, Eves?" Penelope asked the small girl who was bouncing around with excitement. She faltered at the question, squinting at the writing and shaking her head, but her smile never ceased.

Spencer pointed to the words and spelled them out.

"Big Sister. Who could that be for?" He questioned pulling her close to him.

"Evesie?" She asked, motioning to herself.

"Yea!" Reid applauded. "You wanna try it on?"

"Yes pe's!" She giggled trying to pull off her orange top, but getting it stuck on her head, not able to get it past her ears. They got her into her top and she danced around to show it off.

"Very pretty, Eva!" Garcia gasped, squeezing the little girl tightly in a hug.

"Fank you penepe." She splutted on Garcia's name, still trying to pronounce it fully. Penelope pecked her cheek and popped her down.

"You're quite welcome Miss Eva. Now I best go and let you get to the airport. Can't be late for Nanny, can you Eves?" She tapped Eva's nose causing a smile to glossed over her face.

They left around 10 minutes after Garcia, heading straight to the airport. Once there Reid bought Eva a chocolate covered pretzel (with Maeve's permission) and coffee for him and his wife.

Eva had been on several flights before, all of which were to visit her grandmother. She didn't understand why they didn't see her very much and why she didn't have her own house.

Eva ate half of her pretzel before handing it back to Spencer, who wrapped it up for later. She started digging around in her bag for all the things Garcia had gotten her, her fingers curled around a Twinkie and she pulled it out triumphantly.

"Uh, no Eva." Reid said taking it from her.

"You've just had chocolate, I don't want you spoiling your lunch." The small girl pouted and Spencer prayed she didn't cry, but instead she rummaged around again in her bag. This time she pulled out a magazine with big, colourful cartoons over the front.

"You want to colour?" Maeve asked her. Eva nodded. Maeve pulled out some of Eva's felt tips and she began scribbling over the outlines. They sat like this; watching Eva colour and drinking coffee for another 20 minutes, until the tannoy informed them of their gate opening.

Diana Reid was sat at a couch in the day room, reading a thick book. She kept glancing up at the clock waiting for her son to arrive. She hadn't seen him or his family for a few months, and though saddened by her inability to see him more often, she thanked god that she remained where she was; if she were still in her sons care he probably wouldn't have a family.

"Diana?" Her Doctor asked her gently. "Your son and his family have just arrived." Diana put down her book and smiled.

"Thank you." Her Doctor nodded and walked away. It wasn't a minute later that Spencer was gripping her in a warm hug.

"Hey mom." He cooed into her neck. She held him back, holding his face.

"You need a haircut. I liked how you had it before you met Maeve **_(A/N: season 6_** )" she flipped his hair from his eyes, it had started growing past his ears in long brown curls. Spencer laughed.

"You have to get him into the hairdressers, in fact, munchkin there, is in need of a haircut. Look at those matching curls." Diana embraced Maeve lovingly and scooped up Eva pecking her on the nose.

"I promise I'll get it cut exactly as you like next time we see you." Reid confirmed, self consciously combing a hand through his elongated curls.

"Good boy." She smiled, then she narrowed her eyes. "You've come here to tell me somthing, haven't you?" Spencer shifted slightly.

"Come on. Tell me, you know you can't lie to your mother, Spencer." She warned raising her eyebrows. Maeve was biting her lip and looking at Eva as was Spencer, Diana's gaze followed theirs.

"What's this?" She asked thoughtfully. She held up Eva in front of her, Eva giggled as she flew into the air.

"Nana loot! Evesie big sister!" Cried the little girl, pointing to her top.

"Huh?" Diana squinted at the top and took in the words the little girl had just said.

"Big sister?" The pieces all came together and Diana's head whipped around to Maeve. She was wearing a flowing shirt to hide her bump, but Diana confirmed her hypothesis.

"You're pregnant!" She marvelled.

"Yep." Chirped Maeve patting her bump lightly. Diana jumped off the couch and gasped happily. Her doctor eyed her wearily, but seeing her hug her son and daughter-in-law with an excitement he'd seen very few times before, he eased up.

"May I?" Diana asked holding her palm near Maeve's bump.

"Go ahead." She hummed.

"You're at least 3 months along now." Diana mumbled thoughtfully.

"Pretty close, she's 15 weeks now" corrected Spencer and Diana beamed at him.

"Have you found out the sex yet?" She asked still gazing at Maeve's bump.

"We will at the next scan." Maeve said.

"You're having a boy." Diana grinned.

"Is that your guess?" Spencer rolled his eyes, Diana had guessed Eva to be a girl, in fact she was pretty accurate at guessing things in his life, claiming that "a mother knows."

"You can call it a 'guess' if you want." Smirked Diana, returning to her seat before she was told to by the nurses. She didn't take her eyes off her family.

"You're going to be a great big sister!" Diana stoked Eva's nose and Eva hugged her tight.

"And you're going to be the grandmother of two children." Maeve chorused, making Diana swell with pride.

"You should start thinking about names. That's the hardest part; finding the perfect one." Diana smiled to herself remembering how her son had always been a Spencer in her womb.

"We've had some ideas." Reid admitted.

"Come on then, don't keep your mother in the dark." Insisted Diana.

"Well for a girl..." Diana rolled her eyes and Reid laughed. Maeve poked him for interrupting. "...For a girl we were thinking Margo, Amelia and Isabelle... what was the other Spence?"

"Mara." He replied quickly, having chosen the name himself. Dina nodded in approval.

"Not that I think it will be a girl, but I like Margo and Mara, they're different." She winked at her family.

"And for boys names, we have a long list which I can't remember so Spence could you...?" Reid took over instantly listing the names they liked.

"We like Ethan, Noah, Aiden, Asher, Evan, George and Elijah." The list had changed several times, but they'd been left at a stalemate for a few weeks with 7 names.

"I like Theodore or Teddy." Added Diana, Reid sighed.

"We're supposed to be shortening this list, mom!" He groaned and Maeve laughed.

They stayed with Spencer's mother for hours. Darkness shrouded the daylight and Eva conked out on Diana's lap.

"I'm sorry Diana, but visiting hours are long over and you need your rest." She nodded understandably. She handed a sleeping Eva to Reid and kissed her forehead, she stirred and kissed her Nanny back on her cheek.

"It's been wonderful seeing you." Maeve simpered, wrapping an arm around Reid's mother.

"You too. Now I don't want you visiting for a while, you have more important things to be doing, but I do want those letters of yours, Spencer, and keep me updated." She embraced her son, not wanting to let him go.

"You look after your girls, and that little baby in there." She motioned to Maeve's stomach and kissed her son's cheek.

"Love you mom. We will visit again as soon as we can." Reid forced his legs to move away. They turned and waved at Diana, who was heading back to her room. She beamed at them and sent them air kisses, which a groggy Eva caught and held close to her heart.

They were back on the plane before they knew it. Maeve drifted off to sleep like her daughter, but Reid stayed awake thinking. He was thinking of names. His favourites were Mara and Theodore, he was trying to slot in the best middle names. Eva had already taken Marissa Caroline as her middle names and so Spencer was trying to think of new ones to go with his favourites. Isabella Margo he liked the sound of, along with Edward for a boy. He let these names sit on his tongue; Mara Isabella Margo Reid and Theodore Edward Reid, he matched them with Eva's seeing how the siblings names flowed. He was knocked from his thoughts when the plane began its decent and Maeve woke up.

"Haven't you slept?" She muttered groggily.

"I was just thinking of names."

"You remember the deal though." Maeve giggled. When Maeve first got pregnant they made a pact, Reid could pick the first name if it was a boy and Maeve could pick the first name if it was a girl. Luckily Reid had liked the name Eva just as much as Maeve.

"Well then, I like Theodore Edward for a boy." Maeve kissed her teeth and nodded.

"Well I like Margo for a girl, maybe Margo Isabella."

"You know we'll probably change our minds when we see the baby." Smirked Reid.

"Well as long as (if it's a boy) you don't name him Artemis." Giggled Maeve.

"Or William." Reid said bitterly. Maeve patted his hand.

"I'm sure you have the perfect name hidden up your sleeve, you're a magician after all. I think I do too." She grinned pulling down their hand luggage as Reid carried Eva off the plane. Maeve smiled to herself when a thought came to her; in less than a year, they'll be booking an extra ticket.

 **The next chapter will be set another month later (gotta speed this up a little) I was planning on uploading it tonight as this chapter and the next were only short, but my internet has gone down and I don't have enough data on my phone to upload later. If you do see the chapter tonight then I have managed to work some magic, if not I'm sorry!**

 **Please review, I hope you're enjoying the story!**


	9. The Gender Reveal

**(Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds)**

 **Well, I have worked my magic to bring you another chapter. The last one was short and I couldn't just leave you with that. Also things are about to go downhill and I'm super excited and I just want to start writing it...but I'm trying not to rush.**

 ** _Important: about the plot:_**

 **I'd just like to point out that originally this story was meant to have Diane coming back for Maeve, but I've decided to cut that right out. So Maeve was stalked when she met Reid, but it wasn't Diane. Just to clear that up. Her real stalker shall be revealed soon.**

 **1 month later**

Spencer and Maeve had found out what sex their baby would be over 3 weeks ago, they hadn't told the team yet and were planning to at their little get together that weekend.

Reid finished work on Friday and walked to the elevator with his colleagues.

"So were planning on having a get together on Sunday and you're all invited. Oh and we'll put you out of your miseries and tell you the gender." Smirked Reid, Garcia jumped up in excitement.

"Oh thank you, God! Thank you!" She squealed, squeezing Spencer tightly.

"Come around 5." Hissed a constricted Reid. Garcia released him and he breathed deeply, laughing.

 **Sunday**

Maeve and her mum were setting plates on the bench alongside the spread of food. Spencer and Joe were setting up the gazebo around them. Although it was October it was still nice weather, albeit colder, but the sun remained out, rather than hidden.

The team started to arrive as Joe helped Spencer set up the fire-pit.

Henry and Jack came running into the garden, Jack had a plastic ball with superman on it, Henry had a handful of small dinosaurs and a truck. Eva was sat in the sandpit burying her stuffed fox. The boys joined her, making castles and having mini-fights between the dinosaurs.

Reid saw his team and jogged over.

"Hey guys!" He called, glancing over at the children who were playing contently.

"Hey yourself. Are you having a barbecue in October?" Smirked Morgan.

"Uh... sort of?" Reid said, scrunching his nose up. Joe came over and offered his hand to each of the team members.

"Good to see you all again. Have you made your guesses yet?" He asked.

"Guesses?" Rossi queried, shaking Joes hand.

"Oh haven't you heard, Mary and Maeve have been working on that board for ages." Joe threw his thumb over his shoulder where a blackboard stood. The board was layed out into a table with everyone's names on it. Mary, Joe, Eva and Diana's guesses were already up. Mary and Joe had 'Girl' written in pink chalk next to their names and Eva and Diana had 'Boy' written in blue.

Garcia squeaked with excitement and hurried over to write her guess. "GIRL!!!" Was written in pink next to her name, along with some drawings of flowers to pretty it up.

"Ah I see Garcia has found the board." Laughed Maeve, coming through the back door with a few of her co-workers following her out.

"This is Chloe, Marcus, Piper and Jack." Her colleagues introduced themselves to the team. Maeve's cell started bussing and she turned from the group to check it. The caller ID was unknown. Maeve shivered and picked up.

"Hello Maeve... Maeve Donovan here." She said, believing it to be the caller who'd rung her a couple months ago.

" _No. I thought you were Maeve Reid_?" The distorted voice replied.

"I am now... look who is this?" Maeve asked insistently.

" _Maeve Donovan."_

Yes, that's me. What do _you_ want?" The caller hung up and Maeve let out a frustrated groan. She turned back to her family, luckily no one had noticed.

"Who was that?" Reid asked as she came over.

"Wrong number." She smiled. She turned back to the board. "You all need to make your guesses still." She reminded them, changing the subject.

All of Maeve's colleagues guessed 'girl', except Piper. Morgan, Alex, Emily and JJ had a blue 'boy' next to their names and Will, Rossi and Hotch picked up the pink and scribbled by their names.

"Hey Henry, Jack, come guess." The boys skipped over, with Eva toddling behind.

"Guess what?" Asked Henry.

"What you think Uncle Spence and Auntie Maeve will have; a boy or a girl."

"Boy!" Henry cheered. Jack thought for a minute looking back at Eva.

"Girl." He guessed.

The board tallied up to 8 guesses for boy and 10 for girl. Maeve and Reid kept their faces as straight as possible, as not to give anything away.

"We will reveal the answer...after dinner!" Teased Reid, a grin plastered over his face. They all groaned. The BAU smirked at Reid for his dramatic effects.

Whilst they'd guessed, Joe and Spencer had begun barbecuing the food, so they didn't have too long to wait for the reveal. They all grabbed some food and sat down chatting and cursing Reid's slyness. He got up part way through and snuck off to their shed at the end of the garden. He came out with a smug smile and his hands behind his back.

"What is he up to?" Mary asked Maeve, the others leaned in.

"Oh you know Spence, he can't do anything normally." Maeve laughed. Garcia sighed, she'd tried her best to catch any snipit of the gender, but had been unsuccessful thus far.

Eva rushed over to Spencer raising her arms for him to pick her up.

"Evesie hewp ( _help_ ) you daddy?" She whispered shyly, she was still getting used to the number of people there.

"Sure you can, but it's not time yet. We've gotta make these guys suffer a bit longer." He winked at the little girl and Garcia huffed.

They all finished their food in no time. Reid got them all to gather next to the growing willow tree, leaving a huge open space ahead of them (excluding the shed which sat against the fence in the corner.) Eva and the boys were hopping around eagerly. Spencer took Eva's hand taking her to the shed. Maeve stood with their friends, smiling smugly and sealing her lips from the prying questions that were bombarding her.

"Why are you two so mysterious!" Chuckled Rossi.

"Amen." Joe laughed, smacking Rossi on the shoulder.

Reid came out of the shed carrying a small cardboard box. Eva shuffled along behind him, looking on in awe. Spencer whispered something in the small girl's ear and she nodded and ran over to her mother, who settled Eva on her hip, so she could see.

"READY?" Reid shouted.

"YES!" Garcia yelled in exasperation.

"Huh?" Reid called back teasingly.

"COME ON!" They all cried in unison. Reid laughed and struck a match. He bent double over the box for a second then jogged back over.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked when he reached them. He simply smiled and watched the cardboard box. They all followed his gaze in confusion. Suddenly an explosion rocketed from the box. Vibrant white streaks shot into the sky with a pop. The streaks reached up into space, like fingers trying to grasp the moon. They got to a certain height before crackling into smaller sparks. A sizzling emitted from them and the heavy white turned to a baby blue. The firework faded, leaving a blue imprint on the sky.

Their guests were staring up at the sky in shock. Eva was clapping her hands excitedly. Maeve leaned over to Spencer and they shared a kiss.

Hotch was the first to turn and gape at them.

"I assumed physics magic was allowed outside of the office." Reid giggled, biting his lower lip.

"A boy?" Hotch said, his eyes still wide and gobsmacked from the display.

"Yep." Maeve confirmed. Garcia squealed loudly, snapping everyone from their daze.

"A boy! A boy! Oh my god! You're going to have a full set!" She grabbed the three of them and jumped up and down in an awkward hug.

"Did you make that?" Will asked, his eyebrows still knitted in amazement.

"Yea, I.."

"Like to go spectacular, don't cha?" Chortled Morgan, hugging Reid.

"I was right!" Yelled Henry, sticking his tongue out at Jack, who began to chase him.

"You were right too, Eva." Emily said taking the girl off Maeve.

"Huh?" She glanced around confused.

"You're getting a baby brother." Mary said, stroking her granddaughter's hair. Eva smiled wildly, wiggling with excitement.

"Doesn't that mean Spencer gets to pick the name?" Piper asked, smiling happily.

"Yes it does." She looked at Spencer warningly. "But he's already been warned that he cannot pick names like Artemis or Einstein." Spencer pretended to look crestfallen and they all laughed.

Maeve settled Eva in bed an hour later, and she found Henry and Jack conked out on the couch. She looked out the kitchen window, where their guests were sat around the fire chatting and laughing. She went to lock the front door, when she saw a small envelope stuffed through the letter box. The front of the envelope had her name on; _Maeve Reid._ She tore it open to find a piece of card. On the front of the card her name was written again, her old name; _Maeve Donovan._ She flipped the card over looking for anything else, but there was nothing. She frowned and slipped the letter in a drawer on their cabinet.

The sound of laughter made its way to her ears. She smiled and made her way back outside.

 **Things are getting a little fishy! Not long now, only a few chapters until it all goes down.**


	10. The Baby Shower

_(Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds)_

 **Things are hotting up in this chapter; you finally get to hear from the stalker! This chapter is longer than the last few, so take your socks off, snuggle onto a couch and enjoy!**

 **All mistakes are my own**

 **Another Month later**

Maeve's phone started buzzing, she picked it up and moaned; caller unknown. The same number had called her once every week since their Gender Reveal. The call usually ended up being silent, but it scared her.

"What's wrong honey? Reid asked, looking up from his book and setting it on the bedside table. Maeve's phone buzzed a few more times before giving up on her.

"Spence, someone keeps ringing me." She whispered frightfully, her gaze darting around.

"Who is it?" He asked, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I..I don't know." She muttered.

"How long have they been calling you? Why didn't you tell me?" Reid probed, sitting up straighter in bed.

"It's been several times now, regularly, l..like once a week. I..I just can't...I can't face it Spence... I don't want him to be back." Tears began to stream down her face and Reid held her tightly.

"I would never let anyone hurt you, okay. I will sort this out. The team will help, nothing bad is going to happen. I promise." He planted a kiss on her forehead. Maeve's phone rang again and she hiccupped a sob. Reid grabbed it from her and answered for her.

"This is Spencer Reid, Maeve's husband. Who's calling?"

A distorted voice which sounded both scared and excited replied.

" _Maeve_." It hissed down the line.

"You understand that I work for the FBI. You will be arrested for harassment, if this continues. These calls better stop." He snapped.

" _No_ " whispered the voice on the other end, a shaky breath was heard and another teary "no" came through.

"Do not bother my wife again." Reid growled and hung up. He pulled Maeve close to him.

"I'll get the team to check this out." He promised stroking her long curls.

"No Spence, I don't want to risk any of you..."

"Maeve, we're in this together now. You're not alone anymore. They threaten you, then they threaten all of us. Family sticks together." He kissed her forehead, which lingered and calmed her down.

 **Elsewhere**

 _This isn't supposed to happen._ She thought. _She's not supposed to hang up_. She stared at the phone for a minute. She typed in the number again and redialled. The call was answered this time, but it wasn't who she'd expected.

" _This is Spencer Reid, Maeve's husband. Who's calling_?" His voice was steady, calm, soft, it serenaded her ears like a quiet lullaby.

"Maeve" she replied pressing the box over her mouth and tapping the button to change her voice. His voice came through again something about FBI. But she couldn't focus on the words she listened to the voice, so gentle, so kind. She caught onto a few words which made her falter, such as 'arrest', 'harassment' and 'stop'.

"No" she murmured. How could he accuse her of such things and treat her like a criminal. _No. No, no, no this is all wrong._

"No" she whispered again her eyes filling with tears. _Why would he treat me this way_? She thought. _It's not fair._

"Do not bother my wife again" his voice had a snarling edge, yet her eyelashes still fluttered at the sound. He hung up. _Was he blind_? She thought. _How could he do this to me?! It's her it's always been her_. She'd have to get rid of her, yes that's what she'd do.

She got up angrily and headed for her door when a realisation hit her. She smiled cruelly. _Yes, yes, that's it._ She cackled to herself.

"Just gotta wait." She hummed , rearranging the pictures on the wall. She cut Maeve from the family photos she had acquired and crossed her face out. She got a photo of herself and pinned it next to Spencer and Eva. She beamed. "Perfect." She looked back at the photo of Maeve and frowned.

"It's your fault that I've gotta wait." She snarled. She turned back to Spencer and Eva and stroked their pictures.

She couldn't ring Maeve anymore, she decided. It was too obvious, Maeve would turn them all against her; _bitch. No, I'll just watch them for now._ She nodded enthusiastically. She couldn't risk being caught, not when her plan was in place.

"Time." She said, tapping Maeve's stomach on a photo she'd taken of them when they'd released fireworks.

"I can wait."

 **Following day**

Maeve woke up, finding herself to be the small spoon. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Spencer stuggled into the back of her neck. His hair was all over the place and it was getting longer. Maeve had reiterated what his mother had told him about a haircut and he'd promised he'd get one soon. Not that she minded the long curls, but she had never experienced the style his mother used to love, and she was intrigued.

He stirred and his hazel eyes opened and blinked at her. They smiled.

"Morning." He croaked, kissing her forehead gently.

"Morning." She turned over to face him and they stuggled together. Spencer placed a hand on her bump and grinned.

"He just kicked me." He giggled excitedly.

"Probably begging you not to give him a weird name." She laughed.

"About that I..." a loud sequel interrupted him and a small figure climbed onto their bed and forced her way between them.

"Oi you!" Chuckled Spencer, running a hand through her hair.

"Talking of hair, look at you" Maeve beamed, carding her fingers through Eva's wavy hair. Her hair just scraped her shoulders, and it resembled Maeve's more that Spencer's now. The curls were much calmer now they'd grown, in fact they were becoming long waves like her mothers, rather than her fathers short messy curls. Eva's hands went up to her hair and she giggled happily.

"Lite Mummy's?" She asked, stroking her mothers.

"Yea, you look just like mummy..." he stroked her cheek and smiled. "Beautiful." Maeve blushed and Eva jumped on her father, making him gasp.

"Will bubba loot lite Evesie?" She questioned, playing with Spencer's fingers.

"I think your baby brother is going to look just like daddy." Winked Maeve, and Eva bounced happily.

"Talking of baby boy, what were you saying about names?" Maeve turned back to Spencer, who looked over slyly. He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something on it, he folded it up and slid it into an envelope.

"This is my favourite name. You can either find out now or when he's born." Reid smiled, waving the envelope teasingly.

"As long as it's not silly, I'll look at it when he's born."

"Good" chuckled Reid. "Have you had any thoughts on middle names?"

"You're mums right; Theodore had grown on me." Spencer's eyes went wide.

"That's exactly how I feel."

"Is that the first name?" She asked with a smirk.

"No, but it'd be a good middle name. It'd go well with Albert." He said chewing his lip. Maeve laughed.

"You just can't think of names that don't relate to some kind of brainiac can you." She chuckled.

"What? Albert Theodore would be a great pair of middle names." He defended holding his hands up. Maeve sighed and pretended to punch his shoulder.

"You should get ready, I want you to get a haircut before you go to Rossi's, you promised your mother." Reid rolled his eyes and saluted her.

"Fine." He then lent down and whispered in Eva's ears causing her to giggle and run into her bedroom.

"What did you tell her?" Asked a suspicious Maeve. Reid pulled out some clothes and smiled at her innocently.

"I only told her she could pick her outfit." Maeve smacked her face and groaned.

"Great." She laughed, knowing Eva's fashion choices to be a little...strange.

"It's fine, I'll help her." Reid reassured, hurrying into his clothes and hopping out to Eva's room.

"Double great." Moaned Maeve. She got up and shuffled over to the chest of drawers. She caught her reflection in the mirror. It was obvious she was pregnant now, at 23 weeks. She felt small kicks every so often; it was becoming all too real. She glanced over at Spencer's bedside table and the envelope. She stroked her bump.

"Let's hope he's picked you a good name." She whispered softly.

Once Maeve was dressed, Eva skipped in with a piece of buttered toast hanging from her mouth. Maeve took in the girl's appearance and decided it was satisfactory, though Spencer hadn't brushed her hair. She was in the dress the girls had bought her on the mall trip. The dress was light green with white spots covering it and red ribbon sewn along the hem and the waist. A red bow sat in the centre of the ribbon around her waist. Spencer had pulled her hair up in a ponytail and secured it with a red ribbon. And although it wasn't brushed, she still looked adorable.

Reid hopped in with an identical piece of toast sticking out of his own lips, his hair was brushed so that it could be cut.

"Gotta go." He gave his girls buttery kisses. "Love you both." He called as he shut the door.

"Let's get things ready, shall we?" Maeve said turning to the girl, who was holding buttered fingers up at her.

Garcia was coming in a few hours to help set up, so Eva and Maeve made some cookies and other treats whilst they waited. Maeve also cleaned up the front room, whilst Eva sat engrossed in her favourite show. Maeve pulled in a few chairs and sat with her daughter rubbing her bump and catching her breath.

The doorbell rang, followed by a cheery voice. Eva ran to the door, pulling Maeve behind her.

"Come on mummy, Penepe is hewe!" She giggled. Eva bounced up to reach the door handle, but she was still too small so Maeve opened it. Penelope galloped in with a small mountain of presents in her arms. They were piled so high she could barely see them. She popped them down on the chest of drawers in the landing.

"Isn't this exciting!" She grinned embracing them.

"Who awe dey for, penepe?" Asked a hopeful Eva.

"They're for your little bro, but don't worry, Auntie Pen may have gotten you something too." She winked and Eva spun around happily.

"Crazy girl." Laughed Garcia. "Oooo what's that?" She inquired pointing at the packages on the chest of drawers.

"Oh, I don't know. I haven't been out here yet." She picked up the packages. She pulled out the bigger one that was underneath a smaller square shaped package. The big one had their names and address scrawled over it and in the bottom corner was a small inscription.

 _'A mother always knows ~ Diana'_

Maeve smiled down at the package.

"It's from Spencer's mum."

"Aw that's sweet." Cooed Garcia taking the top package and reading the scribbles in the front. She gave Maeve a smug smile.

"And this is from your man." She laughed. Maeve looked over and saw Spencer's unruly writing over the packaging.

"We'll open them later, but for now we need to spruce this place up." Maeve said. Garcia grabbed her bag and pulled out yards of bunting and other decorations.

"Well what are we waiting for." She laughed, grabbing Maeve's arm.

Reid pulled up to Rossi's to find Morgan and Will's cars already parked up. He self consciously ran a hand through his hair, which no longer curled passed his ears, but instead sat in small styled waves on top of his head. He felt a little vulnerable without the coverage of his old hair, but it had become a little overgrown.

He pressed the doorbell and heard the excited cheer of his godson from inside. The door swung open and Henry looked up, beaming at him.

"Uncle Spence is here!" He called to the others. He frowned in confusion looking at Reid's hair.

"Your hair is the same as it was when I was little." He pointed out.

"I took a leaf out of your book and had a haircut." Spencer winked at the small boy, remembering his long blonde hair. Henry blushed, remembering also.

He walked into the front room with Henry guiding him. Morgan, Rossi and Will were already sat watching the football game, each with a beer. Spencer rolled his eyes. He hadn't had much choice on coming; he could either watch football with his friends or stay for the baby shower, he would've stayed for the baby shower instead, but Garcia had warned him it was a male free zone (bar the baby in Maeve's womb.)

"Nice haircut, pretty boy." Morgan complimented, looking up at Spencer briefly before returning to the game. Rossi and Will looked up and grinned at him, Rossi kissed his teeth and agreed with Morgan's statement.

"Thanks. You can blame Maeve and my mom for that." He smirked. Rossi made to get up.

"I'll get you a drink." He said.

"Oh no, I'm alright, thanks though." Reid insisted and Rossi slumped back into his seat. Henry tugged at Reid's hand and he looked down. Henry mentioned him close to whisper in his ear.

"This is boring. Can we do something fun?" He begged desperately. Reid smiled and whispered back to him.

"I agree, this is super boring. Why don't we do some...magic?" The crazed smile on the little boys face gave Reid his answer.

Maeve, Penelope and Eva decorated the front room in different shades of blue bunting and green streamers. Garcia set up several games and organised a present table, placing her own pile down on it. Garcia was setting out all the food when the doorbell rang.

"My maid will answer you now." Joked Maeve from the couch where she'd crashed.

Within 15 minutes everyone had arrived. Mary-Maeve's mother-was the first, followed shortly by Spencer's team: Alex, Emily and JJ, and then her co-workers Chloe and Piper.

Maeve was shocked at how filled the present table became. Garcia beamed at it with excitement, Eva gaped at it in envy.

On Maeve's command Eva gave out the cookies they'd baked. She then crawled onto Garcia's lap to munch on her own, chocolate-chip cookie.

"So, what names have you been thinking of?" Chloe asked, taking a sip from her glass. Alex laughed.

"Don't you mean 'what name had Spencer been thinking of?' You are going to regret that deal when he calls your son Sherlock." The others joined in her laughter and Maeve shook her head.

"I'm already regretting it. He gave me an envelope with his favourite name in, I haven't looked at it yet." She grimaced.

"Well, go and open it then. We have to make sure it's not too weird." Garcia insisted.

"I'm going to wait until he's born. I think I trust Spence enough not to pick an awful name. We can still change it if it is something like Einstein."

Hotch and Jack pulled up not long after Reid and got inside. Hotch found Will, Rossi and Morgan watching the game and enjoying a beer.

"Where's Reid and Henry?" He asked, looking around.

"They went outside after raiding some of my drawers." Rossi laughed.

"What are they doing?" Hotch frowned.

"One word" Morgan said, taking a swig of beer and turning to face Hotch with a wide grin. "Magic."

Jack looked up at his dad excitedly.

"Can I go play too?" He asked with pleading eyes.

"Don't you want to watch the game?"

"I only want to know who wins, it's boring to watch." Admitted Jack.

"Fine. But make sure he doesn't chop you in half." He called out to Jack, who was already out the back door.

Eva helped tear the wrapping paper off the presents and looked around disappointed when the things she unwrapped turned out to be blue or green or orange.

"Hey, Eves, here's a little present for you." Garcia held up a small present wrapped in bright pink paper. The little girl snatched it up, giving Garcia a peck on her cheek.

"It's a colouring book." Whispered Garcia. "It should keep her busy."

Maeve peeked inside a bag JJ had given her, she looked back at JJ, biting her lip.

"Whattttt?" Garcia pushed excitedly. Maeve pulled out the tiny waist coat, with matching trousers and a teeny tiny, navy bow tie. 'Aww's erupted around the room and Maeve embraced JJ.

"Thank you, these are gonna be so cute."

"Just like his Daddy." JJ beamed.

Garcia had made Maeve a three tier diaper cake. She'd held rolled up diapers together, secured them with blue ribbon and stacked them on top of each other. She also got her several onesies, each decorated with a different animal. Maeve's favourite was the pale yellow one covered in little yellow ducks.

"This is the last one, I promise." Garcia said, handing Maeve a present wrapped in stripy blue paper. Maeve unwrapped it gingerly and found a pale blue, woollen blanket. She touched it and it danced along her skin gently.

"Garcia! Did you make this?" Gasped Maeve, letting her fingers run over its softness.

"Yea, I enjoy a spot of knitting." Maeve hopped up and hugged Garcia. Garcia blushed.

A small pile had developed beside Maeve, consisting of: lots of small onesies in all kinds of virbrant colours, several footsies (the cutest being a fluffy grey one with ears on the hood,) at least 20 pairs of socks, a few toys and stuffed animals and hundreds of diapers.

She leaned back going through all the things she'd received and re-thanking her guests.

"Don't forget these." Emily said, holding up the two packages she'd found this morning.

"Oh yea." She took them gratefully and opened the one from Diana. A silky soft brown bear stared up at her with hazel eyes. On his foot were embroidered words: _Theodore._

"Oh he's lovely." Mary cried, stroking the bears soft fur.

"Ooo and he even has a name." Piper piped up.

"That's actually one of the names we were thinking of as a middle name." Smiled Maeve.

"Well I second that." Nodded Garcia. Maeve allowed the bear to be passed around as she opened Spencer's gift.

It was a small jewlerry box, a note was stuck on top.

 _Sorry, there is something still missing. I'll get it as soon as I can - Spencer x_

Maeve frowned and showed the others the note.

"Missing? Don't tell me he's half assed this." Groaned Emily. Maeve didn't answer her eyes were glued to the boxs content. A small heart locket, emblazoned with a pale yellow stone lay within the box. She gently removed it to admire the way the silver metal bent and curved in pretty patterns. She opened it and found a small picture of Eva smiling. The second space was empty. The thing that was still missing was still inside her.

 **Elsewhere**

She threw her plate across the room and it smashed against a nearby wall. _How could she!? That cruel bitch._

She stomped around the room angrily.

She'd followed Spencer to the mall. He'd had a haircut. It wasn't that she didn't like it; of course she loved it really, it was that he hadn't told her. Was he trying to spite her? Surely Spencer knew how much she liked his old hair. _No, she did this. Maeve Reid told him to have a haircut._

"Who does she think she is?" She cried loudly. _She thinks she owns them._ The voice in her head became more persistent.

"What do I do? I need to stop her." She asked the voice. The voice didn't reply and she screamed in anger.

"Stick to the plan." She told herself, trying to calm her nerves.

"The plan is good. It will work. We must be patient." _We can wait._ Hissed the voice in her head.

"Yes, we can wait." She repeated, a cat like smile curving over her dry lips.

 **I'm sorry if that last part was confusing, I didn't want to reveal her name, so when I refer to 'she' I mean the stalker and when the stalker is talking or thinking she's talking about Maeve.**

 **Please review.**

 **Next chapter out tomorrow, it's Christmas!**


	11. The BAU Christmas

**(Disclaimer: I do not what criminal minds or its characters)**

 **It's getting super exciting now (well for me anyway,) next chapter is when shit hits the fan! I apologise if the coincidences are a little too unbelievable- I had to have reasons for all the BAU being together for Christmas. So just roll with that, hopefully it'll flow okay.**

 **Just a little update; Maeve is now 27 weeks pregnant at the start of this chapter. The chapter starts on December 5th and ends on the 25th so she is about 30 weeks pregnant at the end of this chapter. This chapter will be a mini-story in itself, working through the days of Christmas, but don't expect something super long, it'll only be snipits of each day until Christmas.**

 _December 5th_

"Eva, come open your calender!" Maeve called from the kitchen. Eva bounded in and was lifted onto the counter. She opened the door with a 5 on the front and revealed a chocolate in the shape of a snowman.

"Loot mummy, 'nowman!" She giggled, biting his head off.

Reid jogged in, tightening his tie and taking a swig of the coffee Maeve made him.

"I've got a case, so I gotta run." He kissed them both.

"I'll call you tonight" he swung his go-bag over his shoulder.

"Where you off to?" Maeve asked, biting into her strawberries.

"Vegas. Maybe I can try my luck at the casinos that I'm not banned in. Christmas equals bankruptcy." He laughed, darting out the front door.

"Bye daddy." Eva said sadly, finishing her snowman.

 _December 6th_

"Morgan, Reid, I want you to go to that Lawyer firm, talk to the guy who defended our unsub, maybe he has some insight."

"On it, Hotch. Come on pretty boy, and leave the coffee." Reid grimaced, but did as he was told.

Hotch returned to the profile, talking to the sheriff about the unsub.

Hotch's phone rang.

"Hotch!" Garcia screeched from the other end.

"What is it Garcia?"

"Have you visited that firm yet?" She squeaked nervously.

"I sent Morgan and Rei..." Garcia took in a sharp breath. "..d there about 20 minutes ago. Why? Has something happened?"

"Oh nothing like that, Sir. It's...well it's just...I found out who defended our unsub..." she trailed off anxiously.

"It's...it's William Reid. Now I checked a..and it is Reid's father. I was hoping he hadn't gone..." her voice died away again. Hotch squeezed the bridge of his nose.

"Don't worry Garcia. Spencer can handle his dad."

"Spencer?" A distantly familiar voice made Spencer turn around.

"Dad?" He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"What...what are you doing here?" William asked. _No 'how are you son?' Or 'I've misssed you' or even 'sorry'. No of course not, this is your father._ Reid thought bitterly.

Morgan cleared his throat. "You defended Clayton Matthews a few years ago on a rape charge. You had him cleared, am I correct?"

"Yes. But I..."

"We're going to need you to come to the station with us. It's just questions sir." Morgan tried to keep his voice calm, though his blood boiled for the pathetic man who stood in front of him.

"Right, okay. Can I ask why?"

"We believe Matthews to be the perpetrator of recent killings within the area. Any information you have may help us catch him." William simply nodded, avoiding Spencer's accusing eyes.

William Reid turned out to be no help; they released him. He didn't even bother to speak to Spencer, he made for the nearest exit. Spencer wasn't letting him get away that easy. He blocked William's way and folded his arms.

"What's the hurry, _Dad?_ " He snarled, narrowing his eyes at the man.

"Spencer, nows not the time for..."

"When is the time then? You've been avoiding me most my life." Reid's voice raised slightly and his team glanced nervously over at the father and son.

"You know why. I couldn't be the father you needed, and I won't start now. You're better off without me."

"You got that right." Snapped Spencer. "You abandoned us, but we did just fine." William scoffed, thinking of Diana Reid in her home at Benningtons. Spencer gave William a wide berth to leave.

"Go ahead, leave. That's what you're best at."

"You need to let that go, son." William growled back.

"Don't call me _son!"_ Yelled Reid. He looked around apologetically, realising he was loosing control of his anger.

"You wonder why you're alone, Spencer, you can't move on. And with the way you speak to me." William sighed. "You can't blame everything on me. Maybe it's time you moved on, maybe even get a girlfriend, if you know what one is." Spencer lost it, he shoved his father, who stumbled and then punched him in the face. William bent double as Spencer shook his wrist. The team jumped out of their seats and rushed over. William recovered quickly and his face contorted to rage.

"You..." he lunged, but Spencer ducked pushing him back again. Morgan grabbed William, Hotch went to do the same with Reid, but he held up his hands.

"Sorry Hotch. I..I...don't know what came over me." He admitted, looking up with guilt and shame. He shook his hand again, it was swelling and his knuckles were turning purple. William had a slight nose bleed and a reddening cheek, but that was all.

"You were right..." Spencer glared down at William who was still being held by Morgan. "...I don't have a girlfriend. I do have a wife though, who is pregnant and we have a daughter. Your granddaughter. So I think I have 'moved on'." Spencer walked away, caressing his sore wrist.

William struggled from Morgan's grasp, straightening up and glancing at his sons back.

"Spencer?" He called. Spencer didn't look back.

 _December 8th_

The team had just got settled on the jet, the case was finished. They'd caught Matthews at the dump site Reid had predicted, he had been disposing of his latest victim.

Hotch came and sat opposite Spencer, who was reading.

"You know we're proud of you." Reid looked up in confusion.

"For what?" Asked a bewildered Reid.

" For defeating an old demon. I'm not condoning the punch, though it was deserved." Reid smiled, looking at his bruised knuckles, knowing it was worth it.

"Thanks Hotch."

"On another note have you looked into that Christmas present yet?" Hotch smirked and they began a quite conversation on their plan.

 _December 15th_

"Eva, mummy's going to have a bath, you watch your show and don't leave that couch okay. If you need me just shout." The little girl nodded at her paranoid mother and continued to watch her show. Maeve grimaced, but left for her bath, not feeling too hot with little man kicking her constantly.

Eva's show was on an ad break when the phone rang. Maeve's music was too loud for her to hear the soft ringing, but Eva did. She slid off the couch and watched the phone. She'd seen her mummy and daddy answer it before. All they did was pick it up and talk. Eva reached up and grabbed the phone. She put it to her ear like mummy did.

"Hewo?" She mumbled.

"Who's there?" Came a strangely deep and raspy voice.

"Evesie." Eva replied happily.

"Daddy is dat you?" She asked.

"No, this is mummy." The voice changed, it was now a woman's pitch, quiet and gentle. It couldn't be her mummy, she just went in the bath.

"Mummy's in the bath." Said the little girl confused.

"I'm your mummy." Snarled the woman's voice on the phone.

Eva lost interest in the call and stated fiddling with the buttons hanging up on the voice. About 15 minutes later, Maeve walked in in a towel. She saw Eva with the phone and groaned.

"Eva you shouldn't play with this."

"I want to tawk to mummy." She said, Maeve laughed.

"Okay" she handed the phone back to Eva and turned her fingers into a fake phone. They then had a 5 minute telephone conversation which left them in giggles.

 _December 19th_

The team were heading home for the day. They were packing their stuff up when Morgan turned to Spencer.

"Have you heard anymore from Maeve's stalker?" He asked. Spencer shook his head.

"He hasn't called or anything since I talked to him on the phone. My guess is that someone wanted to mess with her head, but they weren't willing to go as far as to involve the police."

"Thank god." Huffed Garcia, coming out of her lair.

"Well I still think Garcia should keep looking. But I'm glad you're all safe." Morgan patted Spencer's shoulder lightly.

 _December 22nd_

 _It's almost time._

I've been patient. I've waited." She encouraged herself. _Not long now._ Hissed the serpent-like voice. She felt like Eve from the bible, the voice in her head was the snake, tempting her with the forbidden fruit. Oh how she desired it. Desperately the desire coiled around her, like the very body of a snake. Was she like Eve? Or was she the snake; was she satan; the fallen angel? The desire suffocated her, as a snake would its prey. She could control the desire; she _was_ the snake. The snake was within her, hissing in her ears, telling her to do things. Telling her who she was.

 _You know who you are?_ It would remind her.

"No?" She purred. She was a blank label waiting to be named.

 _You're Maeve Donovan. T_ he snake inside would hiss.

"I am?" she'd reply. "I am." And she'd remember she wasn't Eve or a snake, or a fallen angel or Satan. She wasn't even Savannah Richards, as her mother had once called her.

No, she was Maeve Donovan.

 _December 23rd_

"Hey, Morgan, would you mind coming with me to get Maeve and Eva's present?" Spencer asked as they packed their things away, preparing for a whole week off.

"Sure, kid." Grinned Morgan, rubbing his hands together.

When Reid picked the perfect present, Morgan offered to keep it at his place so Maeve and Eva wouldn't see it. Spencer got home to find his girls watching a Christmas movie. He joined them, wrapping his arms around them protectively.

"Are you guys packed for tomorrow?" He asked, receiving two vigorous nods back. Rossi was hosting Christmas at his place. Maeve's parents had gone to see Mary's parents in Canada for Christmas, but they promised to Skype Maeve, Spencer and Eva on Christmas morning.

JJ, Will and Henry were staying over Christmas Eve and having lunch at Rossi's. They were then going to spend dinner at Will's parents and then on Boxing Day they were going to JJ's parents.

Emily's mother was busy with work and Emily preferred to spend Christmas with the BAU anyway; they were her real family. Garcia didn't have much family, so she was always down for a BAU Christmas. Hotch and Jack didn't have much family either. He told Jessica to spend Christmas with her dad and their family and he'd go to Rossi's. Alex and James were free over the Christmas period and were more than happy to stay with their family.

Morgan promised his mum and sisters that he'd see them for the second half of his week. And with that the BAU Christmas was already in motion.

 _December 24th_

Maeve and Spencer spent the morning and most of the afternoon wrapping presents and loading them into the car, whilst Eva watched TV.

"Eves, are you ready to go?" Maeve called, hobbling into the front room. The small girl was still engrossed in the TV.

"Finish mummy?" She said not turning around. Her show was almost over.

"Okay. Have you got everything?" She asked, Eva nodded not taking her eyes off the screen.

They arrived at Rossi's just after lunch to find everyone already there, tucking into some eggnog. Morgan whispered something in Spencer's ear and he skipped off down one the corridor. _What's he up to?_ Maeve thought to herself, narrowing her eyes. Eva saw the tree and all the presents underneath and she bounded over. Emily was sliding a few more under when she heard the pitter patter of small feet behind her.

"Hey, Eva." The little girl paused with her hands behind her back shyly.

"Who awe dey for?" She asked quietly. Emily smiled.

"There are presents for everyone here. I think there are a few for you, but you can't open them till tomorrow." Warned Emily raising her eyebrows.

"Why?" Questioned Eva.

"Do you know what day it is tomorrow?"Emily chuckled.

"Dep, its cwistmas!" She giggled, raising her arms. Emily took the chance to tickle the little girl and she squealed happily.

"We can only open all these presents at Christmas." Emily yelled over Eva's screams of laughter.

After a big dinner, made courtesy of Rossi and Garcia, they all got comfy in the theatre room Rossi had had installed earlier that year. It was a dark room, with a huge screen that almost stretched to either end of the wall. There were 3 rows of chairs, 5 in each row, plenty of room for the whole family. Even so, Eva stuggled into her fathers lap. The children ended up falling asleep and their parents put them to bed, warning them that Santa wouldn't visit if they didn't go to sleep.

 _December 25th_

 **Elsewhere**

No-one should spend Christmas alone, and yet here she was, with a bottle of wine all alone. Her family had abandoned her, left her for someone else. They were all blind.

She'd get them back. _Not long._ The voice purred. She'd make her move, her patience was thinning.

 **Rossi's**

Eva sprang through the door and into the room where her parents were sleeping. She'd woken up to a small sack of presents at the end of her bed and she had to get mummy and daddy to come and see.

"Mummy! Daddy! Wake up, Santa came!" She yelled, pulling herself onto the bed. Spencer groaned and rolled over to face her. He helped her wiggle into the bed.

"Really?" He yawned. He pulled Eva into a snuggle between them and closed his eyes again.

"You can't seep now, daddy. Come on!" She grabbed his arm and yanked him up.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming. Who's up?" He slid his legs over the bed and stretched as Eva headed to the door.

"Everywon is seeping." She placed her fingers on her lips and left. Reid followed her out, shaking his head with a smile.

True to her word, everyone was still sleeping. Reid glanced at the clock and it read 6.23. He sighed.

"Pwesents!" Eva squealed, clambering to the tree.

"Not yet, we've gotta wait for everyone else." Eva pouted at him, crossing her arms.

"Do you want to watch some TV?" He asked, she shook her head. She tottled off to a book shelf and pulled out a book.

"Weed." She instructed holding the book up to him. He looked at the book she placed in his hands; Alice in wonderland.

"Have you looked in that shelf before?" Spencer smirked, knowing it to be her favourite book. Eva blushed and nodded cheekily.

Maeve woke up to an empty bed. She struggled out of bed and peeked out the door. She heard soft voices down the hall. JJ's door opened and an excited Henry hopped out pulling JJ and Will behind him.

"Morning." JJ said stretching.

"Merry Christmas!" Beamed Maeve.

"Oh yea, where's Spence and Eva?" She asked frowning.

"No clue, they must be in the front room."

"Morning, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Garcia cried, tearing open her door.

"Where's my genius and mini-genius?" She asked, after giving Henry a sloppy kiss.

"I think Eva kidnapped Spencer this morning."

"What's the time?" Moaned a groggy Morgan, coming out of his room, fisting his eyes after having been woken by Garcia's yell.

"7.41, that's a lie in for me." Laughed Will.

"Can I get my sack?" Henry begged, pulling on Will's sleeve.

"Okay, but don't wake Jack." Henry darted off, but was back within seconds pulling a full sack and a sleepy jack pulling his own bag of presents behind him.

"Henry..." JJ started.

"He was already up, mum. Promise." Henry said and Jack nodded happily.

"Can we open these yet?" Jack asked. Hotch pulled open his door and looked out cautiously.

"Go to the front room with Henry and we will have some coffee and join you." Hotch instructed, giving Jack a push.

They made their way to the kitchen and the soft voices in the front room grew louder. Reid and Eva were sat together on the couch, Spencer reading aloud to the girl who was listening intently. Garcia swooned at their cuteness and Spencer glanced up.

"Oh hey, you're all up." He smiled, closing the book and getting a glare from his daughter. Henry and Jack came in dragging their sacks and sitting on the floor patiently.

"What time were you up?" Hotch asked, rubbing his neck.

"Eves woke me up at about quarter past 6." He scruffed her hair.

"Ouch." Grimaced Morgan, handing Spencer a coffee.

The adults slowly filed in with steamy cups of coffee (bar Maeve, who had a glass of juice.) Spencer placed Eva on the floor beside her sack of presents.

"Can we please start now!?" Whined Jack, already with a present gripped between his fingers.

Rossi waltzed in dressed in comfortable jeans and a brown Christmas jumper with a reindeer on the front.

"Now you can." He grinned, sitting in his favourite armchair. The kids started ripping open their gifts.

"Nice jumper." Hotch chuckled. Rossi raised his eyebrows and pulled up a bag of his own.

"Oh no." Reid groaned putting his head in his hands. Rossi pulled out several packages and threw them out to his agents. The kids didn't notice them as they gaped and gazed at their presents from Santa.

Reid tore up the wrapping paper and confirmed his suspicions. He held up a purple Christmas jumper. His was covered in the traditional Christmas pattern, light mauve reindeers danced along one stripe and mauve Christmas trees on another. He got lucky. Looking over at Morgan he saw a Christmas tree green jumper with a huge snowman on the front, the knitted carrot stuck out the front. Hotch didn't fare too well either, his was a red wool with bright patterns around the neck. Unlike Spencer's his had random colours that shone from the jumper like Christmas lights. Garcia was delighted by hers, it was a bright pink adorned with little bells and a singing Christmas tree (which actually sang).

"Get them on." Rossi urged. Reid threw his on and showed it off to them by standing up and twirling. Rossi applauded.

"Thanks Rossi." Chuckled Reid, retaking his seat next to Maeve, who was still holding her yellow jumper with a similar pattern to Spencer's.

"I'm glad someone likes it!" Laughed the Italian, focusing his attention back on the children. Eva pulled off the wrapping paper on an Alice in Wonderland colouring book. She squealed happily showing Maeve and Spencer.

"Loot, loot!" She said excitedly.

"Wow-weee, that's your favourite book." Gasped Maeve.

She then unwrapped a robotic dog which came with a lead.

"Woof woof!" She cried, making everyone smile. After around 10 minutes the children had opened all of their presents from Santa, their eyes wandered to the tree.

"Okay, time for present giving. Who wants to go first?" JJ hopped up and grabbed the presents wrapped in light blue wrapping.

"We will." She gave Henry each present and told him who to give them to. He smiled happily and kissed everyone he gave presents to.

Hotch and Jack went next and then Emily. By this point the paper was piling up into small mountains around the room. Spencer received new ties and shirts from JJ and Hotch. Emily had given him a big pack of colourful socks and dairy sweets, she also gave Maeve and Spencer a small present for their baby which was a pack of patterned socks for tiny feet.

Morgan went next. He'd bought Cloony with him and he got Cloony to give eveyone their presents by putting them in his collar and getting the recipient to call him. The kids loved the special delivery; Spencer and Maeve went next.

Maeve picked up a box and handed it to Spencer. He smiled. He opened it to reveal a new expensive watch. He kissed her and gazed at his present.

"Thank you honey." He murmered admiring his present. He pulled out a little present and handed it to Maeve, who looked at him slyly. She opened it to find a new top. Though disappointed she hugged and thanked him. The girls grimaced at her, but she smiled them away. Morgan winked at Reid subtly.

Next was Alex and James and finally Garcia (Rossi had given them their jumpers early.) Garcia's presents were all colourful and vibrant.

"All done." Rossi said clapping his hands.

"Not quite." Announced Spencer, smiling at their confused faces (except Hotch and Morgan who were in on the plan). He picked Eva up and put her in Maeve's lap.

"I need you two to close your eyes. I'll be right back." He skipped from the room.

"What's going on?" Asked a confused Garcia, Morgan put his finger to his lips and Garcia put her arms up in surrender. Maeve covered Eva's eyes, who was shaking with excitement in her lap. Maeve kept her eyes tightly shut. She heard Reid come back in and a few stifled 'aw's from the room, which were quietened quickly.

"Keep them closed." Whispered Reid. She felt something soft being placed in her and Eva's hands, she felt it move and she opened her eyes in shock. Eva squealed.

Spencer was looking down at his wife and daughter, smiling from ear to ear. In Eva's lap sat a small, Black and Tan Dachshund, with wet brown eyes. He whimpered, and barked, sniffing Eva's face.

"WOOF WOOF!" Screamed Eva, patting the puppy.

"Oh my god, Spencer!" Maeve gasped, stroking the soft, silky fur of the small dog.

"Merry Christmas." Smiled Spencer.

Garcia and JJ were on their feet and making noises at the puppy.

"He's too cute!" Groaned Garcia with envy.

The puppy's tail began wagging wildly and he jumped on Eva, licking her face. She giggled and gave him little kisses. Spencer pulled the puppy back and stroked his little head.

"Wha's 'is name?" Eva asked.

"He hasn't got one yet. You and mummy can pick."

"Thomas Merton." Maeve whispered.

"You can't call a puppy that." Laughed Garcia. Maeve smiled slyly.

"Just Merton." She looked up at Reid who was already nodding in agreement.

"Merton." She said holding the puppy up to her face. He licked her nose in delight.

 **My family found my fanfiction, is it normal to be super embarrassed over it? Anyway, this story has reached almost 1,000 views, I found out how to view that today and I was super happy!!**

 **Thanks to everyone who has been reading, next chapter is going to be exciting! It's going down!**


	12. Not What I Was Expecting: I

**Thank you for your reviews, they're all lovely! Here is the first part of the arc in this story. The chapters will be named differently because it's like a story within a story, this is the action part. So enjoy and please take the time to review, thanks.**

The team had just finished their first case of the new year. Hotch gave them a half day and Reid was planning on getting home and surprising his girls.

"Hey, we should celebrate our first case of the year." Suggested Emily, as they walked from the conference room.

"Aw yea, that'd be great." Garcia agreed, practically glowing with enthusiasm.

"I'm going to have to take a raincheck on that, James and I have plans, but go anyway. God knows you guys deserve it." Alex smiled.

"Is everyone else good to go?" Hotch asked, getting a nod from everyone. "JJ, bring Henry and Will along, same with you Reid, bring Maeve and Eva. Shall we say our favourite Indian at 6.30?" They all nodded again, with enthusiasm.

"Ooo this is exciting!" Squealed Garcia.

Reid got home to an empty house, much to his disappointment. On the sound of the door closing, a playful yapping came from the kitchen and little Merton came waddling in, his tail wagging like crazy and his wet eyes gleaming with joy.

"Hey buddie." Reid crouched and the growing pup bounded over, nuzzling Reid's hand. He barked happily. Reid picked him up and carried him to the Kitchen. He found a bone on the counter and gave it to Merton, setting him on the floor. He nabbed the bone gratefully, took it to his bed and chomped hungrily on it.

Reid found one of Eva's twizzlers on the side and after making sure his daughter wasn't there, he began to chew it. His eyes brushed a piece of paper on the kitchen counter. He frowned. It was a note, he thought perhaps one Maeve had written it for him when he got home. He was wrong. The note was addressed to Maeve.

 _Maeve Reid, (_ this part was written in harsh, angry scribble.)

 _I've taken my time. I've been patient with you, but I just cannot wait any longer. You are a burden to me. You take everything from me and are spared of punishment. I will not allow this...you to continue. I must dispose of you._

 _231 Yew Avenue, HS6 7AQ._

 _You will not tell anyone about this note and where you are going. I couldn't get to your daughter or husband, but your mother was a surprisingly easy catch._

 _I have eyes everywhere. If you try and get help, I will kill your mother. Try anything, she's dead. I'll be waiting at that address for 5.30._

 _This is for the best. I'm taking my life back._

 _Maeve._

Reid grabbed his phone from the counter and called his wife. His fingers trembled over the keys.

It rang twice before she picked up.

"Hey honey. Aren't you still at work?" Came Maeve's cheerful voice.

"We..uh we wrapped up our work and.. Maeve have you been home yet?" He tried to keep his voice steady.

"No, not yet, I've just picked Eva up. Are you okay honey, you sound a bit on edge."

"Is Eva with you now?" He persisted, his leg jigging crazily.

"Yea she's in the back, one sec. Hey, Eves? Daddy's on the phone, say hi." Reid waited with baited breath.

"Hi daddy!" Came an angelic little voice. Reid held his mouth away from the phone and sighed in relief.

"What's going on Spence?" His wife's voice was full of anxiety.

"Well it's nothing for you to worry about, we uh..we have a termite infestation." Reid picked his lie; he'd never lied to Maeve before and he felt his mind rebel against it.

"Oh, you're kidding!?" Groaned Maeve from the other end of the line.

"I'm sorry Hun. I was just making sure you didn't come home, I'd rather not have my girls in this environment, there's a 78% chance of catching'..." he stopped his rambling, remembering the task at hand.

"Can you go to the office with Eves? I'll drop some stuff off for you for a couple of nights an.."

"What about you?" Interrupted Maeve, still upset about her house.

"I need to sort this out. It's gonna take a while. Oh that reminds me, we are going to meal tonight with the team. I..I don't think I can make it because of this, but you go, explain the situation."

"Spence, we can't go without you."

"Course you can. I expect Garcia will let us stay the night, so be sure to leave a key under the mat and I'll see you tonight or in the morning." Maeve was speechless for a second with shock.

"Have you asked Penelope?" She mumbled.

"Oh no.. I... could you...maybe ask her? I've been really busy so... I haven't actually told them yet." Reid stammered. Maeve huffed loudly.

"Fine. You want me to go there right now?" Irritation laced her voice.

"Yea, I..I'll drop some clothes at..."

"And then go for a meal alone?" Her voice was rising.

"You won't be alone. The team are there and you've got Eva..." Maeve interrupted again, clearly angry.

"So I've gotta look after her all night on my own!? And I can't even go to my own house!"

"Maeve, I..I'm sorry. I..I I'm just trying to make sure we can move back in as soon as possible."

"Whatever Reid. Don't rush back, I know what your priorities are." She hung up. Meave instantly regretted it and thought to ring her husband back but remembered that he said he was busy. She groaned loudly and she heard Eva crying quietly.

"Oh baby, I didn't mean to shout."

"Why you and daddy fight?" She cried. Maeve closed her eyes, a deep feeling of dread gripping her.

"We're not. Mummy is just a little upset, it's not daddy's fault." Maeve looked down at her bulging belly and sighed; _hormones._

Reid trembled as he packed a big duffle bag for Eva and Maeve. He slipped his own note in the bag, which read: _Sorry, I love you ~ Spencer x_

His eyes felt moist as he packed Eva's pjs and her favourite book. He glanced at his watch; _4.12._ He had to go. Merton plodded up to Reid's heals, whining. He couldn't leave the puppy there. He picked up the small dog and heaved the bag over his shoulder, he grabbed Merton's leash and a bag of food which he forced into the already full duffel bag.

He looked back into the house as he left, his hands full. The puppy licked his face anxiously, his tail was wagging only sedately now. The note was still on the counter; he'd memorised the address. He shut the door on his life and headed to his car.

It had just turned 4.42, and Rossi had been getting ready to leave for the BAU, where his family had agreed to meet before dinner. He heard the squeal of tyres outside his house, he listened cautiously until the engine roared away again. Rossi frowned and stepped out onto his porch.

"What the-?" On his door step sat an excited little sausage dog, with wet brown eyes and a large duffel bag. He stroked the puppy's head and he wagged his tail sweetly.

"Is that you Merton?" He asked the happy puppy. There was a small note on the duffel bag.

 _Maeve will explain, could you take these to her at the BAU. Thanks, Spencer._

Rossis eyebrows furrowed, Reid would've at least said hi or asked beforehand. Rossi bought the unexpected delivery indide and called Reid; he wasn't picking up. Rossi was suspicious, what was their youngest up to. In the end he decided to trust Reid and wait for Maeve's explanation.

He left 15 minutes later, having exhausted the puppy with an old shoe.

An unhappy Maeve marched into the BAU holding Eva's hand tightly, the small girl was glancing at her worriedly, wondering where her father was.

Hotch saw Maeve walk into an empty bullpen, looking rather agitated. He came out of his office and made his way down to her. Their eyes met and her rage softened.

"What's wrong?" Hotch asked, his frown deepening.

"It's a long story." Huffed Maeve. Hotch looked at his watch and smiled.

"We've got time." Her mouth curved up into a smile and she took a seat.

"Spencer called me to tell me the house has an infestation! I guess that's partly why I'm so angry. But Spencer tells me he will drop some clothes off somewhere- I have no idea where- and see me tomorrow. He told me to explain to you guys and go to this meal. Now, I don't know whether it's my hormones overreacting or what, but his attitude to this whole thing is just...it's..." she gritted her teeth and Hotch placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure he's just stressed, the case was hard on us all. You and I both know he would have to have a good reason to act like that."

"I..I guess you're right."

"I'll talk to him tomorrow. I don't care how busy he is, he's got a family to think of now." Hotch smiled in reassurance.

 **Elsewhere**

5.24.

"Tick tock Maeve, tick tock." She purred. A small whimper came from the corner of the room. She glanced up and smiled cruelly.

"Hush now mama. It's almost time."

Mary Donovan sat, tied to a scratched wooden chair. Her mouth was duck taped, her cheeks stained with tears, and dried blood caked the side of her face. Mary stared with terrified eyes at her captor, she had mousy brown hair and was profusely tall. She'd towered over Mary offering her a malicious smile before knocking her out cold.

She watched Mary shiver and convulse with fear.

"Why are you scared?" She asked sweetly, examining her nails. Mary's cry was muffled by tape and a fresh wave of tears licked her eyes. The tall girl got up and ripped the tape from Mary's mouth causing her to cough and gag.

"Please don't hurt her. Please. She's my only daughter, please." Mary cried, choking on her own sobs. Her captor's face contorted with rage and she slapped Mary.

" _I_ am your daughter!" She screamed, panting with rage. Mary sobbed quietly.

"Why can't you see!" She smacked Mary again, who was on the verge of a panic attack, it gripped her like a vice and was slowly squeezing her lungs.

"You...are not... _my daughter."_ Mary spat, starting to hyperventilate. Her captors eyes burnt with anger, she stormed off and threw things to the ground, making sure to break each thing. First was a photo frame, then a glass ornament.

"I AM. I AM. I AM!" She shouted as each object smashed. The sound of an engine made her freeze in her tracks. _She's here._ Taunted the voice inside her head. She walked over to Mary and placed the gun to her head. Mary yelped and squirmed away from the barrel.

"Don't try anything, Bitch. I _will_ shoot your mother if you try anything." The door opened slowly and all she could do was gape.

"Spencer?" She whispered, the gun slipped slightly at the shock, but she returned her hold on it. _What's he doing here?_ The voice hissed. _He's come for me._ She replied. _He's my husband after all._

"Please, you don't have to do this." Spencer's hands were up in surrender.

"Where is _she?"_ Grunted Mary's captor.

"I got home before Maeve. I was the only one to read the note. No-one knows I'm here. Now, please stop this. Please, take me instead."

"But I need her. I need to get rid of her. She's taken everything from me!" She screeched, tightening her hold on Mary, who cried harder.

"Who are you?" Sobbed Mary. Her captor trembled with rage.

"None of you listen! I'm your daughter, not her. Not her!" Spencer frowned.

"What's your name?" He asked gently.

"Spencer, it's me. It's Maeve. I'm Maeve Donovan. You should be with _me_. She's stolen my family."

"Okay, okay. Just let Mary go and we can talk." 'Maeve' hesitated at his gentle voice.

"You don't want to hurt anyone, you don't have to do this. Let her go and you can have me." He inched closer.

"I...if I let her go, w..we can be a family?" The doppelgänger mumbled, tears in her eyes. Reid paused at this.

"Uh..I...", Reid stuttered; she saw red. He was lying! _He doesn't want you!_ Hissed the voice.

"On your knees!" She shouted, jamming the gun back into Mary's skull. Spencer complied.

"Don't move." She hissed and she neared him with the gun still aimed at Mary. When she got to him she watched him, shaking her head in disappointment. She grabbed his face and held it up to her.

"You're a terrible liar, Spencer", before he could react the barrel of the gun slammed into the side of his head and he slumped to the floor, out cold.

"Delivery for Maeve and Eva Reid." Came Rossi's jolly voice. He had Merton on a short leash and the duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry Rossi, I..I didn't think he'd just leave all that at yours." Rossi waved her off and smiled.

"So what's going on with Reid?" He asked, seeing that he was last to arrive minus Reid. Maeve sighed and explained the story she'd been told by Spencer.

"He's probably just stressed out, probably need a cool down." Suggested Rossi with a shrug. This didn't cool Maeve's temper, she just felt more angry at her husband.

Luckily the meal seemed to ease Maeve's mind, by the time they'd finished she'd barely remembered what she was angry about. She was beguinning to miss Spencer. Maeve and Eva went to Garcia's to stay the night. There had been debate over who hosted the sleepover, Garcia won when she offered Eva a jar of cookies (chocolate of course.)

"Is Reid coming to stay?" Garcia asked as she and Maeve sat on the sofa having just put Eva down to sleep.

"I don't know and I don't care." Maeve said, stubbornly crossing her arms.

"You don't mean that my sweetums." Garcia assured. Maeve's stubborn mask broke and she began to cry.

"Oh I'm sorry." Panicked Garcia, yanking out tissues and handing them to Maeve.

"It's not you Garcia. It's not Spence either." She pointed at her bump miserably. Garcia nodded and mouthed _hormones._ Maeve laughed through her tears.

"I know what you need..." Garcia got up and headed to the kitchen. "When I'm riding the crimson wave, there's only one thing that helps." She called, digging into the freezer. She returned with a big tub of ice cream and two spoons.

"Penelo.." Maeve started, wiping her eyes.

"Hush, you're a pregnant mess. We're sticking in a DVD and having a girls night." Garcia ordered. Maeve laughed, but didn't disagree. They both fell asleep through the second film, falling into sugar commas.

 **Police station - 9.52 pm**

"Excuse me? Please. Hello?" Joe Donovan ran to the counter, his hands shaking.

"Sir? Can we help you?" A tall dark skinned police woman, stepped up to the desk and offered Joe a comforting smile. She saw the man had a raised lump on his head where a gash had been oozing blood that was now dry and cracked.

"M..my wife. She was taken. We were at home a..and she..she knocked me out. My wife she's gone!" His voice cracked with desperation.

"Okay Sir, just calm down. What's your wife's name?" The officer said calmly.

"Uh.. she's Mary. M.. Mary Donovan."

"You said you were attacked? Did you see the attacker?" She frowned thoughtfully.

"I..It was a woman. Yes. A woman. B..but she hit me before I.. before I could..." he broke down. _It's your fault, you're meant to protect her._ He thought.

"We will do our best to find her, Sir. Please come with me, I need to ask you some question." A deverdtated Joe dragged himself behind the officer. Little did he know his wife was in a warehouse just 30 minutes away. As for his son-in-law; only one person knew where he was.

 **I won't be able to write and post a chapter by tomorrow, so I do apologise, I didn't leave it on much of a cliff hanger did I?**

 **The real story has only just begun!**


	13. Missing: II

**(Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds or it's characters.)**

 **So I'm back from my day off, I had work all day and as much as I wanted to write a chapter, I knew it would end up being rushed and I want to take time on this.**

 **Please read and review and enjoy!**

 **Missing: Part II of main story arc**

Maeve woke up on the couch. She was in a slouched sitting position and her whole body ached from sleeping that way. Garcia was also on the couch, though she was awake, sipping coffee and watching TV with Eva on her lap, eating a cookie.

"Sugar for breakfast?" Maeve laughed. She stretched her arms out and felt something soft and squishy, she looked down and found Merton snuggled to her side.

"Sorry, she twisted my finger." Garcia grimaced, ruffling up Eva's hair( which was now touching her shoulders in brown waves.)

"I guess it's alright, I mean considering you let us stay."

"You stay as long as you need", Garcia smiled, taking a deep gulp of coffee.

Maeve stretched out a bit more waking the puppy next to her.

"Don't you have work?", Maeve asked.

"Yea, but not till 9, Hotch is letting us have a lie in." She took another gulp and set her cup down.

"Spencer didn't come here last night?", Maeve questioned quietly. Garcia shook her head, her eyes apologetic.

"He may have crashed at one of the guys houses", She suggested, biting the inside of her lip.

"You...you don't think he's avoiding me, a..after I snapped at him", whispered Maeve fearfully.

"Of course not, my Juniour-G-Man is not capable of that, trust me. Oh and by the way, your phone buzzed earlier, when I first woke up, it was your dad." Maeve turned to her phone and dialled her fathers number. _Odd,_ she thought. _He doesn't usually ring me like this_. Joe picked up on the second ring.

"Maeve? Maeve, thank god you're okay." Her fathers voice was strained, but showed small signs of relief.

"What's wrong Dad?", she asked sitting up with concern.

"Oh sweetheart it's...I...your mother." His breathing was ragged and harsh.

"Dad, dad calm down. What's happened?", Maeve was fully sat up now, her brow furrowed and her knuckles turning white around the phone.

"Your mothers been kidnapped. I..I.. tried to stop it...I really did...I'm so sorry. Please you have to come here. I need to make sure you're all alright." His voice cracked and stuttered as he explained shamefully. Maeve's hand flew to her mouth and she choked out a gasp.

"Maeve? What's wrong?" Garcia fretted, her eyes wide behind her hexagonal glasses.

"I'll tell Spencer's team. No... no... just come over to their office...yes...I promise. We will find her Daddy. Please be safe...I love you." Maeve hung up and burst into tears. Garcia placed a confused Eva on the floor and threw her arms around Maeve.

"Shh, shh. What's happened?" She asked gently, rocking Maeve slightly.

"I..it's my mom. She's been k..kidnapped."

Most of the team were already in the conference room when Maeve, Eva and Garcia arrived. Maeve sat down in Spencer's chair unintentionally and started biting her nails. Garcia got Eva settled on the couch with a colouring book.

"Your dad's on his way here", Rossi said sympathetically, Maeve only nodded, her eyes becoming glazed and unseeing. She didn't hear what the team were discussing, just a white noise in her ears.

"Maeve?" Her dad's strangled voice croaked into her ears. She got up and ran to him (surprisingly fast for a 32 week pregnant woman.) Her father appeared dazed.

"What's wrong?", Maeve asked through tears.

"They've found her." He mumbled. He smiled at his daughter and half sobbed, half laughed. The team looked up in bewilderment.

"How?", breathed Maeve.

"Her phone. Her phone, Maeve! I told her it would come in handy! They tracked it. She was in a warehouse, tied to a chair. She's alright though." Maeve hugged him in relief, swiping the tears from her eyes.

"Where is she?" Maeve insisted, desperate to see how 'alright' her mother was.

"They took her to hospital. Nothing serious, though they think she was drugged, she's still unconscious." Maeve could feel tears fall again.

"Who would do this?" She whispered, her father shook his head.

" I need to go see her, can you call Spence and tell him?" She looked at Morgan who gave her a worried frown.

"He hasn't answered me."

"Must be one hell of an infestation." Rossi mused.

"Fine. If he bothers to show his face, tell him I've gone to see my mother." She said bitterly.

"I'll swing by your place and see how bad it is." Morgan offered getting out of his chair.

"I'll come too." Emily said grabbing her scarf.

They hopped in their car and headed to Reid's.

"I could swear that termite infestations were treated by covering the house", muttered Emily.

"Well we live in apartments, so I'm not the person to ask about that. Maybe they haven't started yet?" He suggested.

"Well Spencer's not here either. Have you got a spare key?" Emily asked and Morgan revealed a silver key on his key chain and winked. They pause outside the front door.

"It doesn't look like he's called anyone in yet." Frowned Emily. "What's he been doing?" Morgan shrugged and let them in.

The house was clean and undisturbed. There was no evidence of an infestation or any attempts to sort out an infestation. They looked around downstairs, meeting in the kitchen. Morgan's phone began to ring.

"Morgan. Hotch, what's u... no, it isn't...how...okay we'lll be right there. Uh no...not that...okay...see you soon." Morgan got off the phone looking rather pale. Emily was examining a note on the counter with wide eyes.

"Emily, Hotch wants us back. Reid's car was parked at the warehouse that Mary was held at. What's wrong?" He saw Emily covering her mouth and her breath seemed panicked.

"We have to get back, Reid's in trouble." She held up the note for Morgan to read. They were driving away within seconds.

 **Elsewhere**

Spencer woke up to a dull throb drumming against his skull. The side of his face was warm and sticky, some of his hair was glued to the substance, the rest was a curly mess on his head. He groaned and tried to pry his eyes open, but the intruding light forced them shut.

"Wakey, wakey, Spencey", the voice was an icy cool. He opened his eyes once more,squinting against the sharp light rays. He made to shield his eyes, but he couldn't move his arms.

"Wha'?" He looked down to find his arms cuffed behind him harshly, the metal biting into his flesh leaving his wrists raw. He was sat against a wall and his legs were also cuffed together by a chain which was attached to the wall. He pulled the chain with his knees but to no avail, the chain was practically built into the wall.

"You've been out all night. I did what you asked", she looked down sadly.

"Where's Mary?" Reid rasped, his voice full of panic.

"Relax, I didn't hurt my Mother. I did what you wanted. I left her there. Gave her a pretty strong drug though." She seemed disappointed in herself. Reid sighed in relief. He loved his own mother very much, but Mary had become a second mother to him, and she was a real one. Reid had practically raised himself and cared for his mother, he was the parental figure in their relationship. With Mary however, Spencer finally experienced a mother who could look after _him_.

"Why do you want Maeve so much?" Spencer asked innocently.

"My god! You're so blind. I thought you were a genius. I _am_ Maeve Donovan." She ranted in irritation.

"Uh...Maeve?", she was replied with a humph. "You know my team will be looking for me."

"Good point. I should show them you're alright. Maybe they can see who I really am, we're family after all." 'Maeve' smiled, but Reid frowned. She clearly had a personality disorder; believing she was Maeve.

"How...uh...how d'you plan on doing that?" Reid whispered, trying not to upset her.

"A video of course." She rummaged in a box next to them and pulled out an extremely old video camera and a box of tapes. She slid one in and held the camcorder up.

"We're going to show them that I'm the real Maeve." She clicked record.

 **BAU**

"Have you called Maeve?", Hotch turned to Rossi who was frowning.

"Yea, her mother should wake up in an hour or so, so she's on her way back. Joe said he'd bring Mary here as soon as she wakes up, we could try a cognitive interview." Rossi relayed, still frowning.

"Did Emily and Morgan find anything?", JJ asked nervously.

"I don't think so, they're on their way now." He checked his watch; 11.35. It had been almost 21 hours since he'd seen Reid.

They sat anxiously discussing the current situation for 10 minutes when Morgan came running in, with Emily in tow. They barged into the conference room, startling the whole team, shaking them to attention. Morgan slammed the note on the table.

"There is no infestation," he ranted. Alex looked at him with confusion.

"Huh? Are you saying Reid lied?", she murmured, shocked at the insinuation.

"He had to, read that note." Hotch pulled the crumpled paper towards him and read the scrawled writing. He passed it on to the others and swallowed thickly.

"Oh Spence." Gasped JJ.

"He handed himself over", Rossi said, his brow lowering.

"We don't know that." Garcia insisted, her voice high pitch and terrified.

"Of course he did, he was home early yesterday, he must've seen this before Maeve." Morgan sighed.

"That's why his car was at the warehouse", whispered Alex.

"And why he didn't come to mine last night", Garcia said tearfully.

"What's going on?" Maeve walked in with a groggy Eva in her arms.

"Hey Eves, why don't you and Auntie Penelope go play in her lair", JJ suggested, trying to sound bubbly. Garcia wiped her face and got up.

"Come on baby, lets go play." She took Eva and hurried off. Maeve looked at her empty arms.

"What's..." she started, but Emily cut her off by giving her the note. She read it and gazed up. "M..my stalker", she whimpered.

"That's not the most worrying part. Spencer's car was found at the warehouse." Maeve's mouth remained open, her eyes moistening again.

"D..did he go instead of me?", she asked and the team nodded solemnly. She covered her mouth, but the sob still filled the room.

JJ came and embraced her as sobs racked her body.

"I shouted at him." She murmured into JJ's shoulder.

"Don't think like that. He would've understood. Plus you had no way of knowing." JJ held her tighter, she stroked Maeve's hair soothingly as she did with Henry when he woke from a nightmare.

"B..but...I.i..." she started again, her breath ragged, as panic rose up inside her.

"Maeve, none of us knew", Hotch said sadly. Morgan paced around angrily.

"We're wasting time. We need to find him." Morgan paced more ferociously; thinking.

Rossi had his hand over his mouth; thinking.

Hotch was rubbing a thumping headache away; thinking.

Still hugging Maeve tightly, JJ closed her eyes, stemming her tears; thinking.

Emily's legs were bouncing violently under the table, her fingers writhing between each other; thinking.

Alex and Garcia (down in her lair) weren't thinking, they were praying.

"Have you had any contact with your stalker?" Hotch dug, his jaw clenched.

"O..only the phone calls, and even then he would only say a few words."

"Him? You know it's male?" Interrogated Morgan, he didn't pause his constant pace.

"I..I don't know. I'm just a..assuming." Her head was spinning, she felt sick.

"It's a woman", Alex informed them, showing them the note. "She has some kind of personal vendetta against Maeve and it's pretty unlikely for a man to pursue such a vendetta and even more unlikely for a male to leave a note."

"She also signed it 'Maeve'." Hotch looked over at Emily as she said it. Nothing was making sense.

"Agents, Joe and Mary Donovan are here to see you", a quiet officer walked in sheepishly.

"Let them in." Hotch ordered. Joe slipped in holding Mary's hand tightly. Mary appeared exhausted, she was whiter than a sheet, except for an angry looking bruise settling over her cheek and the stitches above her right eye.

"Mum!" Gasped Maeve, springing up and holding a shaky Mary in her arms.

"I'm okay, I'm okay. I needed to see you, I had to make sure you were okay." She stroked Maeve's face softly.

"Why?" Maeve whispered what the rest of the team were thinking.

"She...she kept telling me y..you were coming. She wanted to kill you, Maeve!" Mary allowed the tears to fall, from both relief and fear.

"I..I begged her not to...", Mary was too overcome with emotion to continue, it took all her energy and courage to remain standing.

Joe and Maeve guided her to a seat and she collapsed gratefully into it.

JJ's gentle hand was on Mary's. "Could you tell us what happened?", she asked softly. Mary gulped hard, steadying her trembling hands. With choked gasps, she explained how she was taken and how the Unsub had told her of her plan to lure Maeve to them.

"Did you see Spencer?", Morgan pushed, beguinning to grow impatient with her, all he knew was that his little brother was in trouble.

"Y-yes. We heard a car, I..I thought it was Maeve so did t..that woman. She held th gun to my head a..and when Spencer walked in sh-she almost dropped it. I can't remember exactly what was said. He told her to let me go. Oh! That's it! She kept calling herself Maeve, she was convinced she was my daughter. I think Spencer tried to keep her fantasy going. But she..she said something- I..I can't remember- but he couldn't answer properly and she called him a liar. It all gets blurry after that. I think she knocked him out and drugged me, but... no that's..that's all I can remember. I'm sorry." Her face twisted with an oncoming bout of tears and she hid the pitiful display from those around her by shielding her face.

"She might think she's Maeve. If she's suffering personality disorder she may of latched onto your life, believing it to be her own. She's trying to satisfy her delusion", Hotch decided, his furrowed brow was not to be argued with.

"Sorry to disturb you again Agents, but this was just delivered to the front desk. A homeless man walked right up to the desk; he'd been paid to give it to us apparently." The same officer walked in and gingerly set an envelope of the counter.

Morgan grabbed it before anyone else could. He tore it open, not caring about the glare Rossi and Hotch layed on him. He tipped the contents on the table. Maeve turned away upon seeing it. 3 things fell out: a tape, a second note and a lock of brown curls. Alex took the small strip of hair and felt it. She'd felt its softness before.

"It's Spencer's ", She whispered. Emily took the note, cleared her threat and read aloud.

"' _I don't forget. You no longer control him. I decide these things for him, not you. I will be the one to cut his hair, not you.'_ She clearly didn't like it when you got Reid to have a haircut." Emily pointed out.

"She's trying to assert power over anything and everything Maeve holds dear. That includes Reid", Hotch added.

"I'm not sure I wanna know what's on that tape", grimaced Morgan. Luckily he didn't have to for another 5 minutes, because Garcia had to set up an old and rather dusty tape player. Mary took Eva out of the room, but Hotch insisted everyone else stayed.

The video started after a few seconds of black screen and the several lines of colour before a picture finally presented itself. The team cringed at the first image. Spencer was sat on the floor his feet and hands cuffed together and a chain holding them to a wall. He was paler than usual, and the normal purple rings beneath his eyes and their own rings of red. The side of his head was bleeding, though it was starting to dry in drought like cracks. He squinted at the camera and at the person holding the camera.

 _"Say hi, Spence. It's your team."_ The voice behind the camera sounded cold and excited.

" _Why..."_ Spencer started, but the unsub interrupted him again.

" _Uh bub buba",_ she tsked. " _You need to show them... prove to them, who I am. Spencer, do you love me_?" Spencer appeared taken aback by this question, he shuffled uncomfortable, then looked dead at her.

" _No."_ He hissed. The camera woman didn't speak, she snapped something inaudible and set the camera down on a a table, so the viewer could still see Reid. She muttered something to him again and again he shook his head.

" _You're suffering a..._ " a loud crack cut Spencer off. He reeled back in pain, trying to reach up to his face but the cuffs restricting him. The unsub lifted the gun again and smacked Spencer in the face again. He gasped and tried desperately to get away from her. His lip was split open along with a small gash over his eyebrow, both of which had a steady steam of blood leaving them.

" _You were supposed to tell them the truth! Stop lying!"_ She held up the gun, but Spencer's voice filled the quiet.

" _I'm sorry, am I not following your rules?",_ Reid chided, this earned him another blow.

 _"We're going to be a family again!",_ 'Maeve' shook with rage. Reid simply shook his head at her as if she were a bad child. She lost it. She grabbed him around his throat and slammed him against the wall. Her fingers squeezed tightly around his neck, making his gasp like a fish out of water. He tried to grab her arms, but rembered they were cuffed behind his back. All he could do was rasp and squirm. _Weak,_ Charles Hankel's voice barked. Spencer closed his eyes trying to escape the bombardment of memories. He felt his eyes roll, he couldn't breath. His lungs begged for air. He panicked. He was drowning. The memories attacked him.

 _"I'm not weak..." he sobbed. Tobias Hankel, who had taken on his Fathers personality, glared down at him._

 _"I don't care if you're weak or strong", he snarled, the words lashed from his tongue like fresh whips on Reid's bare skin. There was that feeling. No not a feeling, a craving. He was floating. It was calming, his mind felt like it was packed with cotton wool. A drug induced slumber held him. He wanted to feel that again. Something was tugging him back to reality. He didn't want to go, he wanted to feel the drug again._

His eyes focused once more and he coughed, filling his lungs desperately.

" _I'm sorry. Spence? Spence? Talk to me. I'm sorry, I just got so angry, I...I..."_ he wasn't listening to her, he was focusing on his breathing. The black spots were still swarming his vision. The woman got up from kneeling beside Reid, she didn't face the camera. She backed away cautiously and the camera began moving. She held it on a spluttering Reid from several seconds. The pale white skin around Spencer's throat had contorted to a pulsating red, a deep purple was beginning to emerge along the skin. He continued to rasp and cough.

The feed cut off.

The team glanced at each other anxiously. Their unsub was completely paranoid.

"She's all over the place", Rossi was the first to speak.

"Disorganised, possible psychosis", Hotch offered.

"She's blinded by her own anger, she has little control over it," muttered JJ, her eyes still locked on the screen where her friend had just been.

"Maeve did you recognise that voice?" Maeve was also gazing at the screen, chewing her nails and listening to the thumping of her heart, she barely heard Hotch's question. An only just audible "No" rose from her throat, but that was all she could muster.

"We need to find her. She won't control that anger much longer, she almost killed Reid in that tape and this is only the beginning", Alex said urgently, looking to her peers for their agreeent. Hotch placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her uneven breaths.

Spencer didn't have anyone to hold him whilst he tried to steady his breathing. He was alone. The fake Maeve had been gone hours. He prayed she hadn't found what she wanted. He pleaded that she hadn't taken his family; through he selfishly desired to see them.

 _You're pathetic._ Charles Hankel's voice taunted in his head. _You're weak._ His father's voice joined in the chant.

"I'm not weak." He whispered, a tear falling from his eyes.

 _This is gods will._ Raphael purred. _It will help, I promise._ Tobias' kind voice interjected. Reid remembered the feeling, how the needle sent jolts of calm into his veins and allowed him to drift away. There was a deep yearning inside Spencer, like something was trying to crawl out. His own voice broke clear of the insanity bubbling in his mind. _You don't need it._ It told him. _You're strong._

"I need it." He mumbled drousily. His body began to shake and his fingers twitched. His breathing grew heavier.

"I need it."

 **Dont worry, he's not experiencing a mental breakdown, it's just cravings. (Or is it...) It's heating up now, I really should get started on the next chapter.**

 **Thank you for reading, please leave a review, and if you haven't check out my other story.**

 **I will be uploading a whole new story soon, so chapter updates may get slower when I have both on the go, but we will see (my day off gave me a chance to write the first chapter of this new one, so stay tuned.)**


	14. I Don't Love You?: III

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or the characters of the show.)**

Going to sleep was the hardest thing they could do. Most of the team stared into the darkness that night, imagining the torture Reid was enduring.

Eva was confused and sad. She hadn't seen her daddy for days and no one would tell her why they looked so upset. She quietly cried herself to sleep, as did her mummy.

Reid wasn't much better. The bounds keeping him to the floor were excruciatingly uncomfortable and his face pulsated with a dull throb that the gun had inflicted with its blows.

The doppelgänger fell asleep smiling. She'd been watching Spencer and fell asleep with his face imprinted in her eyes.

The morning crawled on slowly. Maeve had stayed at Garcia's again and she took Maeve to the office at 7, with a teary Eva. Joe and Mary had stayed with Rossi and also decided to join him at the BAU.

The day dragged as the team got no further. They were all waiting for the envelope to be delivered again. Rossi hoped their would be another, he'd rather have an update (no matter how unpleasant) rather than nothing at all. His wish was answered at 4.12 pm

Reid had slept most of the day having had a sleepless night. He painstakingly opened his eyes, to find Maeve's doppelgänger watching him curiously.

"Spencer, you're awake!", she smiled happily at him, he remained still.

"Now come on Spencer, I would hate to have to eliminate the other _Maeve_ just to make you love me." She whipped her head up at him suddenly. "You do love me, don't you?", her jaw seemed to tighten. He couldn't let her hurt Maeve. He smiled at her dubiously.

"Of course, you're my wife." He stated, playing along with her twisted fantasy. Her face glowed with satisfaction.

"I knew you'd finally see!" She got up and hurried to her box.

"W..what are you doing?" Mumbled Spencer, shaken to attention by the camera being set up on the table.

"I told you, we have to prove it. You have to show me you love me." She walked over to him keeping her hood up and her back to the camera. She crouched down by him and it took all his courage not to shy away.

She sank down into him, caressing his face. He didn't pull away, allowing her intrusive fingers to trace his features. She bent her neck down, her lips on his ear. He looked past her and at the camera and sent it a pleading look. _Please understand_ , he thought, he had to do this to protect them; his family. He knew he'd have to kiss her. Her soft lips hovered over his ear teasingly and she whispered a command sweetly into it.

"Tell them you love me", she hummed, he swallowed thickly. "Tell her that you aren't in love with her." Her open lips curved into a smile. He murmured what she wanted in her ear.

"No silly", she giggled, shoving his shoulder playfully. She rose from his lap and retrieved the camera.

"Say it now, they have to hear you", she remained smiling, her hungry eyes devouring his appearance. Reid's breath caught in his throat, as he tried to speak his voice broke slightly.

"I..I love you", he murmured, looking at her, rather than the camera. Her smile grew.

"What else Spence?" She enticed, her eyes growing menacing.

"I..I" he felt his eyes damped at the effort.

"Say it!" She hissed urgently. "To the camera. To that _bitch_." She shook the camera with impatience.

"I d..don't love you," he stuttered to the camera, catching his breath and holding in a cry of pain at his own lie. "I'm sorry." He looked down at his feet so 'Maeve' wouldn't see the threatening tears.

She turned the camera on her face and laughed. It was the first time they would see her, but soon they would never see hers or Spencer's faced again; she had a plan.

"See!" She taunted at the camera, her eyes filling with arrogant smugness.

"He was never yours. This life... it was never yours!" She laughed again, throwing her head back as the roar of laughter bubbled out of her throat. She stopped and rubbed the tears from her eyes. She paused mid action as if struck by an ingenious idea.

"You know what, I'll show you just how much he loves me. I'll show you how you no longer mean anything to him." She set the camera on the floor at an angle. The camera captured Reid shaking on the floor in his bounds. 'Maeve' sat in his lap once more, throwing her arms around his shoulders. Spencer could do nothing but look at her, his hands behind his back didn't allow him to push her off him. She leaned closer, her lips tenuously close to his. He so desperately wanted to shift his position, but he couldn't risk angering her. He made no attempts to near her, yet her lips still found his and pressed firmly against them. He felt the warmth of her mouth on his and her burning hot, lustful tongue pilfered the barricades of his lips. As it explored his mouth he felt like he would gag. He didn't move a muscle, he was frozen and her tongue retracted hesitantly. She opened her eyes and frowned at him, pulling away and feeling her saliva fall down her moistened lips.

"You don't..l...love me?" Her voice hitched on her emotion. Reid's mouth started to open and close trying to respond and keep her calm.

"Liar!" She screeched, yanking herself from his lap. "LIAR!" Spencer struggled against his bonds, fear gripping his tired body. She grabbed his shoulders and shoved him painfully into the wall. With his arms bound he felt the cuffs sink further into his flesh from the force of striking the wall. She grasped his head and smashed it into the concrete. He gasped suddenly, the whole world spinning. He had barely anytime to recover from the shock before he was rammed into the wall again, his head lolled about when it struck the cold wall once more. He felt his wrist snap between his back and the wall on the third shove. The back of his head was warm and wet on the forth whack. He passed out on the fifth.

The team, Maeve, Joe and Mary collectively held their breath as the video died away. Once more someone had delivered an envelope, this time there was only a tape. They watched as Spencer was forced to say what Maeve's stalker wanted to hear. They empathised with his misery, they understood that he had no choice. Maeve and Garcia could only look through their fingers when things went pear shaped. 'Maeve' had shoved Reid into the wall causing him to bang his head and appear dazed. Luckily for them 'Maeve' accidentally kicked the camera sideways and although they could hear Spencer's body connecting with the wall over and over again and the snaps and crunchs that accompanyed this sound, they had the mercy of not being able to watch his attack. He was launched into the concrete wall like a rag doll six more times before 'Maeve' stopped. Her voice became panicked and anxious.

 _"Spencer? Oh shit, Spence?" Her voice whined._

They listened to her unsteady breathing for another minute before she had seen the knocked over camera and picked it up. Her face was tear streaked and covered in worry. He bloody fingers searched for the off button, and suddenly the video stopped.

"Fucking bitch!", growled Morgan, Hotch sent him a frown, glancing over his shoulder to see Eva was still asleep and hadn't seen or heard what they just had. He shook his head and closed his eyes; they didn't deserve this.

"She's escalating", mumbled Alex, who was looking at her desk with tears shining in her eyes.

"Why is she doing this?", whispered Mary, who's fingers trembled by her mouth. Joe wrapped his arms around her for comfort.

"Garcia, I need you to run facial recognition on this video, we should be able to identify her." Hotch ordered, Garcia's eyes were still wide behind her un-Garcia-like glasses, with a sedate navy rim. Her bubbliness was in hibernation when one of her family members was in danger. She nodded and muttered a "Yes, sir." Typing madly on her laptop, her eyes narrow with determination.

"Did you recognise her?", Emily's eyebrows creased and she looked over sympathetically at Maeve's paralysed shock. Maeve glanced around at Emily and sighed.

"No i..I don't think so. I...I can't even remember what the last thing I said to Spencer was, let alone someone in my past. The only thing I remember about my last conversation with Spence was that I was horrible. But, Spence, well he does remember. I hurt him for no reason and I don't even remember what I said." Tears fell down her cheek.

"We'll find him", Rossi promised, nodding his head in assurance. Hotch began going over the profile again.

Maeve suddenly felt very uncomfortable in her seat, her stomach pains (which had been on and off most of the day) ceased for a moment. She looked down and found her seat wet. The others were still discussing with permenant frowns. Garcia was glancing around worriedly, her typing slowing down. They were all bought to attention by a deep grown as a contraction soared through Maeve. Garcia put an arm on her friend.

"Are you okay?" She asked looking her over.

"I..I think my waters just broke", she mumbled wide eyed.

 **Sorry this chapter is short, I was having writers block for this one, I know what's happening in the next chapter, but this one was just a blank for a while.**

 **Please review, next chapter's going to be exciting.**


	15. Hello! Goodbye?: IV

**(Disclaimer: I don't not own the show criminal minds or its characters)**

 **Things are about to get a whole lot worse! You may understand the title of this chapter by the end. I hope you guys enjoy it, please leave a review, that'd be great!**

 **Also just to get the dates right (in case of confusion) this is set in early February right now. A couple chapters ago I said that they had their first case and then Spencer gave himself to Maeve's stalker. Just to clarify, their first case was a month after Christmas (they were working before this case, but it was just mostly paperwork and whatever the FBI does when they don't have a case). Therefore Maeve is 34/35 weeks pregnant. Hope that helps, I was confusing myself.**

 **Here goes...**

"Why aren't you waking up!?" The fake Maeve was screaming at him. She pulled on her hair, pacing the room. Spencer was lay lifeless on the floor, hunched slightly against the wall, unable to slump fully over due to the chains holding him back.

The grey concrete of the wall was stained with crimson, that dripped agonisingly down to the floor. 'Maeve' had bundled up a spare shirt of hers and pressed it against the back of his head. She pulled it back after a minute and found it wet with blood. _It's just a concussion, it's just a concussion._ She whispered in her head, shakily putting her shirt back against his head.

She'd gotten fed up of watching him and left to calm herself. A horrible sinking feeling came over her. The voice began to hiss at her again. _What if you've killed him?_

"I haven't", she snarled through gritted teeth. She slammed her hand on the wheel. Then the rage overcame her and she began fighting with the steering wheel and the dashboard, she screamed angrily as she smacked it over and over. _Temper, temper._ The voice teased as she lent her head down, panting

"It's okay Savannah", she soothed herself lovingly. "It'll be alright."

 _You're Maeve! Not Savannah!_ Cried the voice in her head. She nodded intensely and started the car engine. She drove out, a craving lurked in her wide eyes; time to pay her family a little visit.

When she returned she'd made quite an interesting discovery. But Spencer was still unconscious.

She watched him for a while, staring at his chest rising and falling.

"You're going to ruin the plan", she sighed, after having shaken Reid by his shoulders several times.

She was beginning to grow impatient, her feet tapping incessantly on the floor.

"Spencer wake up!" She demanded, folding her arms. "Wake up, god damn it!" She screamed, throwing a glass dangerously close to his head. It smashed against the wall next to him, peppering his slumbering form with fragments of glass.

She stood up, breathing heavily to control her anger, and walked over to the sink. She filled a glass with water for herself. The coolness sizzled out her anger and she sighed. She refilled the glass and headed over to Spencer.

"You are going to wake up", she purred before emptying the water over Reid's face. The sharp coldness snapped Reid out of his sleep. He coughed and spluttered as if he were drowning. He shook his head to try and eliviate the water, but his head was heavy and painful to move.

"Morning sunshine!" Singsonged 'Maeve', bending down and kissing him on the cheek. Reid couldn't avoid her touch and just sat, idly watching her.

"Why are you so gloomy?" She teased pinching his cheek, still he didn't pull away.

"I need t..go..t hosp...ospital." He managed to rasp, licking his chapped lips.

"Awh, sorry no can do", she smiled like a teacher would to child, who couldn't answer her question or answered it wrong. Reid groaned.

"C..can you at least u...un..uncuff me", he slurred drowsily.

"I can't trust you yet", she made a sad pout and laughed.

"Please. I..I can't go anywhere", he breathed slowly, his eyes drooping closed then snapping back open. His captor put her finger to her lips and thought. _How far can he go, he's clearly concussed,_ she said to the voice. The voice hissed quietly, considering her. _Only the arms. Untie the arms. But if anything happens, it's your fault,_ it sneered.

"Fine, but just your arms." Reid grinned slightly at the prospect of arm movement. He was pretty sure his wrist had been broken last night, and it felt as if the cuffs had become part of his bone structure.

She unlocked the cuffs and had to jerk them off his wrists, having become embedded in his flesh. He hissed in pain, biting back a yell. She stepped back and watched him as he slowly pulled his hands to his front.

Half of his wrists were bloody and cut deeply by the unforgiving metal. The other half of was rubbed raw. Along his right arm he saw a small ridge beneath his skin, he ran a finger gingerly over it and grimaced when it felt the broken bone.

"You should be more careful", she chided, sitting on the couch and typing on her laptop. Reid cleared his throat and was given a glare.

"Uh...Maeve, I uh haven't eaten or drunk anything in the last few days, could I..." he paused wetting his parched lips. "Could I have some water, maybe?" 'Maeve' grunted and got up, leaving for the kitchen. She came back with a glass of water and half a sandwich. She set them down in front of him and went back to her laptop.

"I ate the other half", she chuckled. Reid made a face at the sandwich, only imagining the germs that covered it. His stomach growled hungrily and he reluctantly obeyed its commands.

"Garcia, I need you back here." Hotch ordered sternly.

"But sir, Maeve is.." she started but Hotch interrupted.

"I know the situation, but we need a name, Garcia." He insisted.

"I'm in the waiting room right now, I can run it through facial recognition as we speak." Luckily, before Maeve had gone into labour, Garcia had set up everything she needed for a facial recognition. All she had to do now was click a few buttons and... her screen filled with information.

"I got it, Sir. It says her real name is Savannah Richards. It..it..oh. It appears she has a few aliases. Anna Merrit, Maxine Fitzpatrick and Maeve Donovan", she gasped and shook her head sadly. "I'm sending it to your tablets now. Do I still have to come back." She pouted, even through Hotch had no way of seeing.

"Fine, but keep digging." The call ended.

Garcia had only been there an hour and she felt like she was going mad.

It had been several hours since Maeve had been taken to the hospital, and the team were busy analysing, searching desperately for where Spencer could be.

"What happened to these other women. She took Maeve's name and tried to kill her, she may have done the same to the other women." Rossi suggested. Hotch dialed Garcia.

"Oracle of all knowledge speaking, how may I help you sir?" She still managed to maintain her happy chirp even with the current situation.

"Can you get background on the other two women Savannah impersonated."

"Done and done." He heard the typing that seemed to follow their tech analyst.

"Oh dear."

"What is it Baby Girl?" Morgan asked, frowning at her tone.

"Both women are dead. Their houses caught fire and they were practically burnt to... oh god there's pictures."

"Garcia, was there evidence of arson?" Emily insisted, biting her already short nails.

"Uh, no sir-ey, the report says it was caused by a cigarette. Wait a minute."

"What is it? Have you found something?" Pressed Morgan.

"I read something earlier on Savannah and... I think they may need to reopen those cases." She swallowed thickly. "Savannah Richards and her son were caught in a house fire. It was started by a cigarette she'd been smoking and... oh, I need to watch some kittten videos after this. The boy died." The team looked up, realising.

"That's the stressor." Confirmed Hotch.

The sun was beguinning to rise again when Garcia finally found them an address. They suited up ready to get their youngest back.

The house had been empty. It was blackened and charred from the fire that had killed Savannah Richards son. Even with it falling apart, Derek Morgan still managed to find a wall to put a hole in.

Garcia was still in the waiting room. Her laptop was sat on her lap, the screen black from standby and Garcia dozing quietly next to it. She'd been there since late the night before. Eva and Maeve's parents had been allowed in Maeve's room, but Garcia wasn't _family. Yea right,_ she'd thought. She startled awake when a hand touched her shoulder.

"Wha!" She splutted, almost sending her precious laptop to the floor. She looked at her watch: 9.08am. Mary was stood watching her, with a smile across her lips.

"I didn't mean to startle you. I just thought, maybe, you'd like to see your newest nephew." It's lucky it was early and there were few people there, because Garcia's sequel could be heard from 3 floors above.

The team trudged back into the office; tired and angry they threw their vests on the table.

"Call Garcia and tell her what happened." Grunted Hotch.

"Hey babygirl, it was a bust. She wasn't there... wait, calm down... what?..You're kidding..." Morgan's lips curved upwards and his gloom disapparated. "Yea...no, I'll tell them... yes! We're on our way." He hung up and grinned up at the team.

"Our family just got bigger."

Garcia crept into Maeve's room and saw an exhausted Maeve with a tiny blue bundle in her arms. Maeve smiled at Garcia sneaking over.

"Oh my god!" She whispered excitedly, looking down into the baby's face.

"You wanna hold him?" Croaked Maeve. Garcia's eyes widened and she nodded madly. The small bundle was exchanged and Garcia began cooing quietly and bouncing the baby.

"He is beyond adorable", she squeaked as the baby made a tiny yawn and she 'awed'.

"He looks just like Spence when he was a baby", Maeve smiled sadly, wishing her husband was there to share this moment. Her daughter was asleep on the chair in the corner after having had a cuddle with her brother.

"My God! You're right!" She giggled, stroking the baby's cheek. "He's so tiny."

"He _is_ a little premature. They said he's doing really well considering." A thought struck Garcia and she snapped her head around at Maeve.

"Name! You've gotta tell us now." She bit her lip in excitement.

" _I_ still don't know. Luckily I've been carrying around Spencer's envelope for weeks now." Garcia's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What? I was tempted, okay! I never did look though." She laughed, defending herself. Mary retrieved Maeve's bag and she pulled out the unopened envelope, where Spencer had written the baby's name.

"We already agreed on his middle name." She said, glancing at the hopeful ladies, who wanted their say in the name choosing. She tore open the envelope and read her husbands scrawl. She beamed happily.

"That's a good sign." Garcia whispered to Joe and Mary.

Savannah was still using her laptop, watching CCTV footage she'd hacked into. She'd been watching Spencer's team as they re-entered the office not looking too clever. She switched over to the hospital footages and smiled wickedly. She closed the laptop and began hatching a plan. Reid was watching her through half open eyes. His head throbbed viciously, and though he was desperate for sleep, he was sure he had a concussion and falling asleep risked not waking up. His wrists stung as well as his back, which he was sure had been bruised, but compared to his skull, they were mere scratches.

"I'm going to be gone for a little bit", announced Savannah. Reid barely managed to open his eyes any wider, so he just continued to watch her with them narrowed.

"I'll get you some more water. I think I have some chips in here somewhere." The next thing Spencer knew, a fresh glass of water and a small bag of plain potato chips had been placed in front of him.

"Be good, I'll be back shortly."

Hotch, Emily and Rossi stayed behind to continue their search for Savannah and Reid, while Morgan, Alex and JJ went to see the newest family member.

Maeve was holding the baby once again, and Eva was bouncing up and down beside the bed to get a good look. Morgan felt a pang of sadness in knowing that they were missing someone. The others felt it too, but still offered smiles to their family.

"Oh Maeve, he's gorgeous", JJ sighed, looking at the tiny boy's face. He had long lashes, a small button nose and tufts of whispy brown hair. Alex felt her heart melt when she looked at him.

"Congratulations", Morgan and Alex said in unison, smiling at each other as they did so.

"Thank you", Maeve handed the baby to a gaping JJ, who was already making soft noises to the baby.

"Is there anything new?" She asked eagerly.

"We know who she is. There were two women before you who she stalked and impersonated, we believe she was involved in their deaths. Her son was killed in a fire she accidentally started which is what brought on her spree." Maeve nodded gravely. "We found a location, but they weren't there", Morgan admitted, his eyes filled with shame. Garcia closed her eyes and Joe and Mary exchanged worried looks.

"We will find him." Alex promised, touching Maeve's shoulder.

"Hey Morgan." JJ nudged his shoulder and stirred him from his serious stupor. "Want to hold him?" Morgan mumbled slightly, looking to Maeve who grinned at his nervousness. He took the baby gently and stood there holding him awkwardly.

"This feels weird, it should be your daddy holding you right now." Morgan whispered as he looked down on the sleeping baby. "You'll see him soon, I promise. He's a great dad, you're gonna love him." The baby took his long finger absentmindedly and held on tight.

"Maeve?"

"Mhmm." Maeve turned to JJ, who was looking at the names written on the small plastic crib.

"Is this his..."

"Mhmm." Maeve laughed.

"Aw, I think that's adorable. See I said he wouldn't pick Artemis!"

 **The Plan**

Savannah slipped into the hospital, her appearance blending with those around her. It took her 5 minutes to get to the maternity ward. She glanced around to see a moderately quiet ward, _time to get to work,_ the voice hissed slyly.

Part one of the plan; find an empty room. She wandered the corridor inconspicuously and found a broom cupboard, but it was much too cramped, though she found a sign that read _'cleaning in progress'. Perfect,_ purred the voice. She glanced around before hurrying off to the toilets around the corner. Luckily this area was completely secluded. She placed the sign in front of the door and rubbed her hands together. Part one; check.

Part two of her plan; find a disguise. This would be the hardest part, Savannah grasped the needle in her pocket tighter. On her first mission she had come across an almost empty breakroom, the two women she'd seen were still chatting amicably. Savannah waited outside, pretending to look at the wall map until the voices in the room got nearer.

"Yea, my shift is finished."

"Mines over in half an hour, wanna hang about and we can go for some drinks?"

"I guess I can, I'll go get changed and finish some paper work. Speaking of which, considering you only have half an hour left shouldn't you be working."

"Yea, yea, bossy. Actually I'm looking forward to this half an hour, I get to look after one of our new arrivals, I know babies are cute, but this little cutie is the icing on the cake." She cooed. The two woman swanned out of the room and headed seperate direction. The plumpish one, in pink scrubs and short, thin blonde hair was skipping by when Savannah cleared her throat.

"E..excuse me?" She mumbled sweetly, giving the kind nurse a look similar to that of a lost child.

"Yes honey?" She chimed, smiling widely.

"I.. uh seem to have gotten myself lost. Could you direct me to the toilet?" She offered her sweetest and most pained smile, even going to the extra mile as to make her cheeks blush.

"Aw, gosh, I'm sorry about that, our corridors can get quite confusing. You know what, I'll take you to them. Knowing this place, directions will be futile", she started down the corridor waving Savannah to follow her.

They got to the toilets, where Savannah's sign was waiting.

"Aw, dang it. I'm so sorry miss. Don't worry though, they should be done in no time."

"Thank you so much", Savannah beamed at her, feeling around in her pocket for the needle and popping off the cap.

"No problem Hun, my shifts over now, but if you need anything else I'll be in the main office at the end of that corridor. Careful not to get lost." The bubbly woman turned on her heal and began to bounce away when something lost and sharp sank into her neck. She whipped around in shock to see the young woman she'd been helping, press down on the plunger of a needle sticking into her flesh.

"GAH!" Gasped the Nurse, but her vision already blurred and her knees buckled beneath her.

Savannah dragged her into the toilets and stripped her. She walked back out with her hair tied back and pink scrubs hanging slightly off her small frame. Part 2; check.

Part 3; get the baby. Maybe this part was the most difficult, she mused. She was wrong. No one seemed to notice her due to her ordinariness. She got all the way to the room which held the babies before she was stopped.

"You new?" A lanky, dark skinned brunette waltzed up to her. She recognised her as the other woman in the breakroom. Her long curly hair was platied into a French braid down her back, and unlike the other nurses she'd seen, this one had a deep seriousness in her eyes.

"Yea, fresh from the shelf", she imitated the bubbly nurses she'd seen and heard.

"Good, we need some more hands on this team. You're lucky, it's pretty quiet tonight, my first day was a nightmare. I swear a hundred babies were born", she chuckled, looking though the glass at the sleeping newborns.

"How many were there tonight?" Savannah asked curiously.

"Two so far, a boy and a girl, another's on its way, but probably won't be here till morning."

"Have they been named yet?" Savannah wanted to come across as keen, so she kept her sickly smile plastered over her lips.

"The baby girl was born about an hour ago and they're still deciding. Little boy, on the other hand, his mum gave us a name straight away, said the father picked it. I think it was Georgie. Yea I'm pretty sure it was, not very common around here. I think it's quite sweet." Savannah nodded, she could see the tiny baby wrapped in blue blankets. It was him. Her little Issac. This was her second chance to be a mother.

Savannah was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the other nurse glance at her watch and give a 'goodbye' and a 'duty calls'. Savannah was alone with her baby.

Part three; check.

Part four; get home.

Savannah returned to Reid about an hour later. She cooed the crying baby who squirmed in her arms.

"Hush, Issac. Mummy's here. Mummy's got you", she rocked him gently, but he wouldn't quieten down.

She walked into her dark lodgings. Spencer was asleep once more, but at the sound of a baby's cry his eyes fluttered open. She hopped over to him, fed up of the crying newborn and placed him in Reid's arms. Reid looked down and didn't have to ask. It was his son.

"Now we're a family", she clasped her hands together and beamed.

 **Oh dear...**

 **please say what you thought of this chapter and his name. I was watching IT and I just really like the name Georgie, so that's his name!**

 **Update tomorrow, it's the final instalment of this arc. Will Spencer and His son make it out alive?**


	16. It Doesn't Have to End Like This: V

**(Disclaimer- I do not own criminal minds or it's characters)**

 **So this is the end of this particular storyline, I've enjoyed it, I admit. If things don't seem too clear I will summerise it in the next chapter because I have a feeling what's about to go down will create a shit load of paper work.**

 **Tannerrose- I know it's more of a feminine name, I did a good bit of research on it and typically males with with the name have it spelled Georgy, ( I'll change it that way.) But like I said in the last chapter, I only got the idea from a MALE character from 'IT'. You've gotta admit it's a cute name! Oh and yes, the middle name was mentioned when they were discussing baby names, it's Theodore.**

 **Last part of Savannah Richards story line.**

 **Here we go...**

"WHERE IS HE!?" Cried Maeve, she was out of bed pacing the room.

"We have someone reviewing the security..."

"I'm already checking now." Interrupted Garcia, her fingers typing madly along the keyboard. Maeve continued to yell at the panic stricken nurse.

"How could you let someone walk away with a newborn!?" Joe reprimanded, his eyes dark and angry.

"I have no idea how he could've been taken, only staff and family are allowed in that room." Stuttered the young nurse.

"It was a nurse" Garcia looked up from her computer. "Wait, wait... oh my..."

"What!?" Maeve yelled angrily.

"It's Savannah Richards." Her voice was grave.

"We need to get back to the BAU", said Morgan.

"We're coming." Maeve informed them, picking Eva up.

"No, you're still recovering." JJ insisted.

"I'm coming." Maeve sent her a sharp look, challenging her to argue.

"But.." Garcia started.

"I'm fine, honestly. I was fine 5 minutes after Georgy was born. Same with Eva. Now don't try and stop me, I _am_ coming with you."

 **BAU**

Maeve had managed to convince the doctors and her family to discharge her and she was now sat in Spencer's seat with Eva in her lap.

"..sure it's Savannah?" Hotch was saying to Garcia, who turned the screen to prove her findings.

"We have no idea where she is!" Groaned Alex, slamming her pen down.

"Her husband left her on Issac's death." Morgan looked up from the case file, a thoughtful look on his face.

"What was the husbands name?" Rossi asked.

"James Hooper. Savannah reverted back to her maiden name after they divorced." Garcia informed them.

"Where was he when the fire started?"

"Uh, it says he was working, he had a late shift. Oh no wait. Oh. He was with another woman. Initially he'd told court he was working late, but his boss had denied it." Garcia grimaced.

Emily shook her head, "He was cheating on her."

"Are there any properties he owned which Savannah may be holding them at?" Hotch asked Garcia, who began smashing the keys with determination.

"Uh, James, Savannah and their son owned the small property that burned down, he's now established in... Minnesota", groaned Garcia.

"Keep looking Mama, anything could lead us to Reid and Georgy." Morgan stroked her shoulder for support.

"On it my ray of sunshine in a rainstorm", she didn't give him her usual smile.

 **Reid**

"He's too small to be out of hospital." Reid muttered, clutching the baby close to him. His baby. His son. He felt an overwhelming sadness that he'd missed the birth of his son. But as he looked into the newborn's face he felt that sadness melt away.

"She can't have him, he's not hers, he's ours." She crossed her arms angrily.

"Take him back, please", Spencer begged.

"No James." She spat, turning her back on them. _James?_ Reid sat completely still for a moment. Was she in another delusion.

"Maeve?" He began, but she turned and glared at him.

"How dare you! Don't ever speak of her! She has no part in our lives!" She snapped. Reid frowned in confusion. _How many personalities does she have?_ he thought to himself, _she's no longer Maeve._

"What's your name?" Reid asked shyly, pulling his son closer for protection.

"James, will you stop being a fucking moron!" Reid remained quiet, clearly taken aback.

"Here give me Issac!" She snatched the boy from out of his father's grasp and he immediately screamed at the new and unkind touch.

"Shh, mummy's here." She cooed, stroking the crying child's face.

"It was your fault we lost him in the first time, it will not happen again. We will do it right this time", she didn't look up, focused on quietening the child.

"I still don..."

"Savannah! Maybe if you were home more often you'd know it better!" Savannah exploded, upsetting the baby even more.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry Savannah. But he's not ours, okay, you need to give him back to his real mother." Reid talked calmly hoping to defuse her anger. She glared at him.

"Of course he is! Look! He looks just like you. Our little Issac has come back to us James, and we will do it properly this time; as a family." Shr rocked the baby a little more and then becoming fed up of his crying she lay him- digruntledly- back into Reid's arms. She left the room and began talking from the next room over.

"We will be together forever soon. I promise. I won't be angry at you then. We're going to be happy." Reid heard a sloshing and he hummed to calm the baby and himself. Georgy stopped fussing and closed his eyes, listening to his father's humming.

"I wonder if they went for the name I chose." He whispered to the baby, trying to drown out the sloshing and the demented talk Savannah was creating. "I bet your Grandad will think it's a girls name." He leaned close to the baby. "It's not, I promise. It means farmer in Greek and that's pretty masculine if you asked me." He winked at the baby who was shimmying into the blanket to get comfier.

Savannah marched back in with a can of gasoline. Spencer's eyes went wide and he tried to shelter his son.

"What the hell are you doing!?" He gasped. She ignored him, a menacing grin over her face. She walked up to the father and son and splashed the gasoline over Spencer, he managed to hold his son away, allowing himself to take most of the fuel.

"Stop!" Spluttered Reid. She paused looking at him angrily.

"No! It's your fault it happened the first time! If you hadn't of been with another woman Issac wouldn't have..." she choked on the last part and looked down. Being the genius he was, Reid pieced together the situation.

He did some quick profiling; Her son must have died, most likely in a fire. The husband hadn't been home, she probably blames him for her sons death. Reid was now said husband in this delusion, and Georgy was the deceased 'Issac', that she'd been talking about. A sudden connection hit him. _Is she going to recreate his death?_ She'd said something that Reid suddenly remembered; " _we will do it properly this time"._

 **BAU**

"Sir, I think I have something!" Garcia yelled, throwing her arms up in triumph.

"What, what is it?" Hotch rushed to her side.

"It's a location. James and Savannah were planning on moving house before the fire. There are several down payments made by James Hooper on said house. It was sold a year after, but it is currently vacant"

"If she's trying to recreate her family and the perfect life they were going to have, then that's where she'd go." Added Rossi.

"Where, baby girl, where?" Pushed Morgan, jumping out of his seat and grabbing a discarded vest from the last location they went to.

Garcia gave them the address and they all prepared to go.

"I'm coming." Maeve said, grabbing a vest. They didn't have time to argue.

 **Reid**

"You can still save him!" Reid shouted as she splashed him with the fuel again. She paused, staring into Spencer's eyes.

"It's too late. We can still be together though. A big happy family James, Savannah and..." she looked down at the little boy frowning, _he doesn't look like Issac,_ She thought. _That's because he's not,_ hissed the snake in her mind.

"You don't want to hurt Issac, he's your only son. You have a chance to save him from the fire this time." Reid tried to keep his voice steady, although the fear was surging through him with an immense fury.

"I can?" She murmured, the gasoline can tipping slightly in her precarious hold.

"Yes! I promise. He won't die in this fire, but you need to put him somewhere safe, okay? You can do that, can't you?" Reid's voice shook. "I know this is how it must end, but you don't have to hurt Issac." Savannah was chewing her lip thoughtfully, her eyebrows bunching up. She dropped the can slowly and shuffled over to Spencer, gently taking the baby from his grasp.

"I'm going to save you this time, Issac." She promised the sleeping baby, rocking him in her arms. She gave Reid a swift nod and rushed from the room. Reid sighed in relief; he didn't care what happened to himself as long as his son survived.

Savannah laid the sleeping newborn in the backseat of her car. She remembered leaving Issac in the car when she'd head out to the newsagents to get her usual packet of cigarettes. She'd always crack open the windows, kiss Issac's cheek, promise to be back soon and lock the car doors. She did the same with Georgy, kissing him softly, opening he window a smidgen and locking the doors. She smiled and wiped a single tear from her eye.

"I can save you this time." She whispered, her bottom lip shaking. There was a wail in the distance that tore her from the tiny baby. She saw the shimmer of red and blue, and with a departing glance at the baby she slipped back into the building.

She found Spencer lent weakly against the wall with his eyes closed and a small relived smile playing on his lips.

Savannah picked up the can, shaking Reid from his relief. She doused herself in fuel.

"You don't have to do this." Reid attempted one last time, though he'd already accepted defeat.

"It's my fault he died. I couldn't save him the first time." She muttered sadly.

"Savannah, it was an accident. You couldn't have known." He didn't want to die, he wanted to see his wife and daughter again. He wanted to watch his kids grow up. He wanted to grow old with Maeve. He wanted to see his team; his family.

" I deserve this."

"I won't stop you. Please, just unlock me, you don't need me anymore", a will to live stormed through Reid's body. He hadn't expected the cold laugh to reply to him.

"You left me after the fire. You couldn't look me in the eyes again. You know," she laughed to herself, "I often wished it was you who'd died. You should have been with us that day." She looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Before I had always said to myself 'you should have died, Savannah' I agreed until _you_ told me you were leaving me. If you hadn't of been 'working-late'.." she broke down with sobs, they mimicked the increasing wails of sirens.

"I'm not your husband. Savannah, I have my own family, we've done nothing to you. You can end this anyway you like, but you don't have to drag my family into it." She was ignoring him, her shaky fingers pulling out a match which promptly slipped from her fingers and into the puddle of gas.

"Savannah, unlock my feet." Reid ordered, realising Savannah was becoming completely unstable.

"I guess my wish is going to come true", she smiled weakly, the match she struck burnt brightly between her fingers. "You and me will die this time instead of Issac. You and me James." She giggled and dropped the match.

 **Team**

They travelled in two SUV's: Morgan, Hotch, JJ in one, Rossi, Alex, Emily and Meave in the other. They all had FBI vests on even Maeve who was told to remain in the car, but also forced into the vest for safety.

"How far" Morgan ground his teeth, his foot secured on the accelerator.

"Turn left in 5 blocks and then left after 6." Hotch said, his eyes focused on the sat-nav.

"Call the fire department. She's going to try and end this with a fire, like with the other women she killed. We can't risk a fire engine not being on standby." JJ nodded and called them.

 _It's not too late, it's not too late_ , Maeve was chanting in her head. She was still sore from childbirth, in fact she was in a good deal of pain, but she had to be there for her son and her husband, she just had to.

"We'll get there in time." Rossi said, looking in the mirror at Maeve, his reassuring eyes smiled at her. He held the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"There!" Shrieked JJ, deafening Hotch. Morgan swerved to a halt, pulled out his gun and slid out of the car. The other two agents followed.

"Is that smoke!?" JJ cried, pointing to the wisps of smoke billowing from the open windows. Hotch and Morgan exchanged looks as the other SUV rocketed up beside them.

"Stay back Maeve." Hotch ordered, their eyes locked on the smoke.

"We need to get in there!" Shouted Emily, starting for the door, Morgan held her back.

"Emily! We need to wait for the fire engines." He insisted, trying to hold her back. Maeve was crying, her hand over her mouth to stifle the screams of despair.

"They're still in there!" She cried through her fingers." They could hear the sirens not far behind, but the smoke was thickening and the clouds were darker. A tiny cry pulled their gazes from the burning building. Alex's eyes widened and she ran to the source of the sound.

"Here!" She yelled, and Rossi rushed to her side.

"Maeve, Georgy's in here!" Rossi shouted in disbelief, jamming his hand through the open window and unlocking the door. Alex reached inside and took the distressed baby.

"He hurt?" Morgan asked, his gun lowered and his gaze torn between the baby and the building.

"I don't think so." Alex gently gave the baby to a weeping Maeve who held onto him, whispering quietly.

"I'm not waiting." Rossi unholstered his gun and jogged to the front door. Hotch frowned at him. He wanted desperately to get inside, but he couldn't endanger his family anymore. Then again, one of his family members could be dying inside. Emily pulled herself from Morgan and followed Rossi. No-one wanted to stop them.

Rossi paused at the door, giving them a nod. A scream from inside shook them. It was a female one and it dyed out within seconds and was followed by a cry for help.

"HELP!" It was Spencer Reid's voice. They hadn't heard it properly in days.

"MY LEG! IM STILL TIED UP!" His desperate crys filled the night air, harmonising with the crackling of fire. Rossi didn't hesitate a moment longer, he and Emily ran in, followed by Morgan. Hotch held the others back, shaking his head, ordering them to stay; the order was more like a plea.

 **Reid**

The match fell to the floor, instantly igniting the pooling liquid at Savannahs feet. She lit up like a human candle within seconds. The couch also burnt viciously. Savannah remained standing as the fire singed through the clothes. The fire crawled down the hall, lighting the cream carpet with furious blue and orange flames. The bedroom must have been on fire because big thick clouds of smoke erupted from the rooms down the hall.

Reid began to cough as the smoke descended around him. He yanked at his chains uselessly. He was slightly soaked with fuel, but the trail didn't lead directly to him or else he too would be burning as bright as a winters fire.

Strangely his mind wandered to historical facts. He remembered how the romans used to douse priests in wax and set them alight. They'd be used at parties, the priest would be stood like a candle and they would slowly, agonisingly, burn to death.

Savannah collapsed to her knees and laughed. She was almost completely naked now. The flames had devoured her clothing and was slowly working on her flesh. Reid watched the skin char and cook. It reminded him of the first time he'd attempted to barbecue and had gotten distracted. He couldn't help smirking; Morgan was right, he was a lousy barbecuer. The smirk dropped at the realisation that he'd never get to tell Morgan that he was right. Savannah screamed one last time, but it was reduced to a gurgle as her lungs filled with blood and her heart stopped pumping.

The flames began to lick at the carpet near him. His shuffled away the best he could.

"HELP!" He screamed, praying someone could hear him. He yanked on the chain, his breathing ragged as panic filled him.

"MY LEG!" His voice cracked with fear, as he tried again to rip the metal chain with his bare hands, knowing it would be impossible.

"I'M STILL TIED UP!" _Please be out there, please, please, please, please_.

He heard the door crash open.

"I...In...here!" He rasped, coughing violently. It felt as if he'd swallowed razor blades and they were slicing through his windpipe.

Rossi burst around the corner, dodging the flames, hunched down below the smoke. Reid thought he was dreaming. He hadn't seen a familiar face (bar his son) for days.

"Rossi.." his voice was barely a whisper as the smoke burnt through his lungs.

Emily and Morgan were behind him stamping out smaller flames.

Rossi was almost to Reid when the fire caught the small trail of fuel that led to Spencer. It was like a blood hound catching his scent.

Reid screamed in pain. A flame licked his trouser leg, tarring the skin beneath it. The scolding flames burnt his skin and he couldn't get away. He was trapped. He yanked at the chains and tried to pat off the fire, which only sent agony through his palms.

Rossi was inches away when the fire spat at him and slithered up Reid's leg. The young agent's eyes snapped open widely as he cried out. Rossi stamped out the flames and began smacking out the ones on Reid's legs, he hissed as his hand burned.

"No Rossi.." Reid moaned, not wanting Rossi to be burned.

"Stop, Stop, stop!" Morgan ordered, pulling off his jacket and throwing it over Reid. He patted him down and coughed as the foreign smoke entered his body. Reid's cries were replaced with whimpers and panting, like a puppy who'd been kicked.

"Rossi, can you get that chain off him?" Emily asked urgently, her arm firmly pressed against her face. The smoke was descending quickly, Reid had his head back and he was gulping back smoke filled air and rasping and coughing from the effects of smoke.

"Reid cover your mouth." Rossi chided, trying to pull Reid down from the smoke. Reid groggily bent his head his throat seizing even more.

"I..i can't get it off." Rossi groaned, they couldn't leave him, but the prospect was becaoming more and more real.

"Keys." Reid croaked, pointing a limp finger at the counter, which was enveloped in flames. Morgan ignored the fire and darted through them to grab the keys. The flames licked his arm and he pulled away, grimacing at the angry red burn developing over his forearm.

He made it back to the agents cowering in the corner, the flames closing in on them. He handed the keys to Rossi who wasted no time freeing Reid's legs. Reid began heaving which sent savage streaks of pain through his lungs.

"Get him out!" Rossi yelled, grabbing Reid's arms and helping off his ground. Reid found his legs didn't work too well, they hadn't moved for a few days and along with the burns they seemed pretty useless.

Emily ducked low and made her way out when Morgan took Reid's other arm, throwing it over his shoulder and practically lifting him from the room. The flames had grown and they found their exit blocked off.

"Help!" Cried Emily, and as if by some kind of miracle, the flames were extinguished by a white spray.

"This way." Guided a voice, and a fireman entered and waved them to the door. Emily, still crouching low, stepped out of the threshold and began coughing out the smoke she'd inhaled. JJ rushed to her and stroked her back soothingly.

Alex fidgeted waiting for the other agents. Hotch held his breath. His three agents tumbled from out of the building. Reid was leaning heavily against Rossi and Morgan, but as soon as he felt the fresh air he pulled himself from their grasp and took a few steps breathing deeply but choking on the air. His legs buckled beneath him and he collapsed to his knees, coughing violently trying to expel the smoke he'd taken in. He knew it was an impossibility, but he expected his breath to come out in big black clouds, similar to the ones he'd breathed in.

Morgan stumbled over to him, but his throat also felt savagely raw. Hotch and Alex were beside Spencer. Hotch knelt close to him and Alex rubbed him back as it shook with throaty coughs.

The paramedics dashed over to the fallen agents. Reid paused in his coughs although he already felt another building up, he wiped his mouth and found blood. He was once more racked with an attack of coughing and it was becoming increasingly harder to breath. Reid felt a mask slip over his face and he tried to breath properly. He rasped for a few seconds and then the coughing began again.

Emily seemed to have revived and was watching nervously. Rossi and Morgan were breathing deeply, their throats tight, but the fresh air soothed them.

The paramedics were talking to Reid, asking him to do things. Reid's ears filled with a numb buzzing and he finally stopped coughing. He took in a breath and suddenly the pain was overwhelming and his eyes rolled and he collapsed further to the floor.

"Reid!" Hotch yelped, managing to hold Reid before he connected to the floor.

"Sir, you have to move, we will take care of him." A paramedic insisted, pulling Hotch reluctantly away. They turned Spencer over, trying to stabilise him. They felt his neck and glanced nervously at each other.

"No pulse."

 **Sorry a cliffhanger, I'm such a bitch! Don't worry I'll upload the next chapter tomorrow, I guess this sorta kinda wasn't the end? I mean Savannah is gone now, YIPEE! But it's not all rainbows and unicorns just yet (but I do really like the rainbow and unicorns part, so don't expect anything sad *wink wink nod nod*)**

 **Please leave a comment on what you thought . Sorry for the astronomical delay, I've been out all day, so I only got started on this chapter a few hours ago (oops)**

 **See you soon. Adios!**


	17. Is it Over Yet?

**This was meant to be a shorter chapter, but I had so much to explain and... well... I ended writing lots and I still didn't get it finished! My God! Sorry for the delay, I had too many things to write and time just got away from me.**

 **Enjoy! Please review, you'll make me super happy, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, much love to you.**

 **Okay, so here goes nothing...**

"You gotta help him man!" Morgan rasped, watching the paramedics begin CPR on their youngest agent. A mask was placed over his face and a chubby paramedic was squeezing it rhythmically.

Maeve gave her baby to JJ, who took him gently. She then rushed towards the paramedics.

"Is he okay? He's alright, isn't he?" She begged, desperately trying to get to Spencer and being shut out by the paramedics. She crouched and stretched her fingers out. She managed to brush his before being pulled away; that was enough for her. His fingers felt red hot, although she barely touched them, she felt the throbbing heat emitting from them.

It was the longest 1 minute 21 seconds of their lives. It was finally ended when one of the paramedics cried "I have a pulse!". It was as if the whole team's hearts had stopped beating alongside Reid's silent one. When his started again so did theirs.

"It's faint, we need to get him to the ER stat

." Maeve hadn't noticed she was crying, and she was copying the Paramedics movement, getting up and following Spencer to the ambulance.

"Maeve." JJ called, and she motioned to the baby. Maeve suddenly felt torn between the baby and her husband. Rossi shocked them all.

"I'll go with Spencer, you need to be with Georgy. I'll see you at the hospital", and he promptly hopped in the ambulance before the doors slammed and they were gone.

Rossi had never seen Reid so still. His whole body was ridged, he looked like death. Rossi took his hand instinctively, ignoring the shooting pain of his palm. Both his and Reid's hands were burnt from trying to pat his leg out. Rossi glanced at Spencer's leg and saw the trouser leg burnt almost to his knee. Beneath the skin was angry and red and in some places broken and leaking blood. It looked worse around his foot; his black converse was brown and charred, the rubber drooping from having melted. Reid's green stripy sock had been stained crimson and beneath the burnt material angry blisters were forming.

Reid's wrists were also cut deeply and the skin had been complete rubbed off from restraints. His forearm was a deep purple and it was much more swollen than the other arm. Rossi grimaced at his injuries.

"It's over now Reid. It's going to be alright." He muttered, more to convince himself than the lifeless agent beside him.

Maeve and Georgy were admitted to a hospital room to recover. Luckily Georgy was unhurt, and just a little hungry. Maeve wanted desperatly to wait with the others so she could be updated on Spencer's condition, but she had a baby to think about. Eva, Mary and Joe had joined her within half an hour. They hadn't told Eva about what had happened.

"Whewes daddy?" She asked Maeve, her eyes welling with tears. Maeve sat for a moment, wondering how to explain.

"You know daddy fights bad people, right?" Maeve said softly, hoping to keep Eva calm. She was replied with a "mhmm".

"Well daddy has been trying to fight off one of those bad guys."

"Is dat whewe he's been?" Maeve nodded, the small girl's eyes widened with ardent curiosity.

"Did he get da bad man?" She whispered.

"Yep, he got the bad guy. But-uh, daddy got a little bit hurt when he..." Eva cut Maeve off with a worried glance.

"Daddy otay? Is daddy otay?" Her mouth trembled. Maeve hesitated not knowing what to say. She felt her own eyes well up, _what if he's not okay?_ She thought. Luckily, Joe took over.

"Course he'll be okay squirt. Don't worry about daddy, he just need a long nap." Eva smiled and stretched her arms out for her grandfather, who picked her up.

"Then Evesie tan tee daddy?" She asked excitedly.

"I promise. I bet he's missed you too." Maeve had started crying, but hid her face from Eva as her father talked about all the things they'd do as a family.

 _How long had it been, 3 hours?_ Rossi leaned back in the cool plastic chair, closing his eyes. As soon as he did he was bombarded with images of fire and smoke and Spencer lay, not breathing on the ground.

 _Damn you, Reid._ Morgan moaned in his head. Why was he taking so long.

Emily was focused on biting her nails, there was nothing left on most of her nails, but she was still steadily working on her pinky.

 _Think happy thoughts,_ Garcia hummed. _Sunshine and rainbows, sunshine and rainbows, sunshine and..._

Hotch was staring at the floor tiles as if they were about to sprout legs and run off. _What if we were too late._ He shook his head, but the thought remained.

This reminded Alex too much of her son. She hated hospitals. The smell, the look, the feel, everything about them made her skin crawl.

JJ had been to the vending machine three times now, once to get coffee and twice for a bag of flaming cheetos. The burn on her tongue didn't ease the worry weighing down on her mind.

They all perked up a little when a hospital clad Maeve hobbled over.

"You should be resting", Morgan scolded, though if he were Maeve he'd do the same.

"Anything?" She whispered. They shook their heads and she returned glumly to her room.

It had to have been 2 more hours until a doctor in turquoise scubs hurried up to them. A clipboard in her hand.

"Family of Spencer Reid?" She asked looking around them.

"Uh, his family are in room 109." Hotch said, realising that he was no longer Reid's emergency contact and that he also had an actual family now.

She nodded and headed off to that room, they followed. Maeve hopped out of bed, handing her newborn to her mother. The Doctor paused glancing back at the agents.

"They're family. I'd like them to hear this. I'm his wife." She insisted.

The Doctor nodded and glanced down at her board. Eva was watching curiously.

"Should I take Eva out?" Garcia asked. Eva let out a howl, not wanting to leave.

"She's alright. I doubt she will understand much of this." Even so, Garcia went to the small girl and hugged her tight to her chest, trying to block out the words the Doctor was about to speak.

"Is he alright?" Mary asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Right now we cannot say for certain. He's stabilised, but that doesn't mean he's out of the woods. It appears Spencer sustained a hefty head injury around a day or two ago. It looks like the back of his head was hit against something repeatedly, causing a significant amount of damage, including a large open wound, a skull fracture and a nasty concussion. We will have to run scans tomorrow to see whether he has sustained any brain damage." Rossi and Hotch exchanged a wary look. Reid relied on that brain of his, they didn't want to imagine his reaction to having brain damage of any kind.

"Dr Reid has also suffered third degree burns over much of his lower leg, as well as second degree burns on his hands. I'm hopeful that these will heal in time."

"What's most concerning," the doctor cleared her throat and looked down at her chart. "Is the smoke inhalation. He breathed in a large volume of smoke which sent him into respitory distress. He is currently on a ventilator to help him breath as I'm afraid he cannot do so on his own right now. He will probably remain on it for the next 24 hours, which, I must stress to you, are critical." She took in the worried faces of the people around her.

"It is likely that he may develop irritant-induced occupational asthma. The chemicals of the gas and the smoke have caused significant damage to his lungs and respiratory system..." Hotch cut her off with a frown.

"Asthma is an allergic reaction and I thought it was developed as a child." His frown deepened as he argued.

"Irritant-induced occupational asthma develops in adults. It is one of the rarest forms, mainly due to the fact that it is a non-allergic type of asthma. It is often caused by breathing in chemicals at work due to a chemical spills. I'm am not completely convinced that Dr Reid will develop this, but it is a likely possibility. Either way he will be prescribed a preventer and relief inhaler for several months, due to the significant respiratory damage." Hotch didn't argue this time, he just nodded and sat back down.

"Any questions." She asked bluntly.

"C-can we see him?" Maeve asked quietly."

"Like I said the next 24 hours are critical, I would prefer no visitors for several hours whilst he recovers . I will come back and inform you when he can have visitors, but even then only 2 at a time." The team looked crestfallen, but nodded reluctantly.

"I'd advice that you all go home, get some rest and by the time you're back he should be available for visitors."

"What if something, uh h-happens?" Whispered Garcia.

"The family will be informed if Spencer's condition changes. Now I have some other patients to attend to, but if you need anything or have any more questions send a nurse for me." With that she ducked out of the room, leaving the family speechless.

"She's right, we should go home, try and get some sleep. We've all been working non-stop for days." Hotch said, though there was a clear reluctance in his voice.

Rossi nodded, feeling the sting in his hands and wanting to get them in a nice cold ice bath. It took a good deal of convincing until they finally agreed. Morgan and Garcia blatantly refused.

"Besides I can leave Maeve and Georgy alone!" Argued Garcia.

"And they need someone to protect them", Morgan was pulling every excuse he could think of.

"Fine." Sighed Hotch, pinching the bridge of his nose. "But you should still try and get some sleep." He advised.

Joe and Mary took a very upset and confused Eva home with them. She still hadn't seen her father and the grown ups were talking about him in hushed whispers so that she couldn't hear, but she got a hint that something bad had happened to him. The others also left for home, they had to drag their feet from the room, all had an overwhelming desire to stay.

As soon as Rossi got home he unbound his hands and prepared a cool bucket of water, filling it with ice. He closed his eyes and stuck his hands in it. He hissed at the savage cold that attacked his skin, but soon the water began soothing his swollen red burns.

Morgan sat in the chair beside Maeve's bed and Garcia took the other bed which was usually reserved for the father: Spencer. They didn't sleep. They lay in silence glancing from the ceiling to each other, listinedimg yo the quiet hospital bustle behind their door. Maeve dropped off first. She was exhausted after having Georgy and the stress and fear just mounted over her and she finally passed out. Garcia was next, she didn't even realise her eyes were closing. _Just one minute_ , she thought, but she soon drifted deep into a dream. Morgan held out much longer, waiting for news, like Maeve he practically passed out from exhaustion.

The sun was beginning to rise when a nurse finally came in. She saw the three asleep, and started to back away. Unfortunately a ray of sunlight landed on the baby's face and he started wailing. He awoke the grown ups like a human alarm clock. The nurse shuffled forward again as Maeve pulled Georgy into her lap. They all looked up at her, Morgan jumped to his feet, whilst Garcia scrambled into a sitting position.

"You're the family of Spencer Reid?" She asked, they all nodded.

"The doctor said Spencer can have visitors, but only two of you at a time, and only 15 minutes for the moment." Maeve nodded in understanding and slid from the bed.

"I'll take my baby Genius, you two go see him." Garcia said, taking Georgy from Maeve's trembling arms, she was already walking out the door.

"You sure baby girl?" Morgan whispered, seeing that Garcia was near tears.

"Y-yea, I'll see him in a little bit." She sat down in the chair, smiling at the warmth that Morgan had left.

"He's in here. I just want to warn you how serious his condition is, his appearance may be a shock to you." Maeve nodded again in answer, not being able to form words on her tongue.

She entered the room quietly and squeaked. She hadn't seen Spencer properly for days and suddenly there he was. There were tubes and wires littering the bed, snaking under the blankets. His face had signs of bruising which were fading ever so slowly. His chest rose and fell simultaneously as the ventilator worked its magic. He looked so much paler and skinnier lay in the crisp white hospital bed. The heart monitor filled the silence, proving that the young agent on the bed was in fact alive. His head was wrapped tightly in fresh bandages, forcing his hair in random directions. His fingers were blacked from the smoke and ash, as was much of his face. His right arm was cemented in a plain white cast and lay next to his side. His palms, like Rossi's, were bound in clean white bandages, underneath resided several painful burns. As for his leg, that was hidden beneath the blankets.

Maeve grabbed a chair beside the bed and pulled it closer, leaning in to touch Spencer. She ran her fingers through his sweat and blood covered hair. She whimpered gently to him, putting her face close to his. She found a box of tissues on the bedside table, she grabbed a big wad and dipped them in a cup of water which had been left. She combed her fingers back through his dirty hair, and began rubbing the tissues slowly across his curls. The tissue came back which a mixture of red and black, mostly red. She sighed, but continued the methodical process, calming herself. Once she'd taken care of most of his hair, (except for the back, which was tightly bandaged) she started gently cleaning the ash from his face, fingers and arms.

Morgan remained at the foot of the bed, watching sadly. This image of his best friend would never go away. He looked so helpless. Whenever Morgan would see him, he'd always -without fail- be fidgeting. Spencer Reid was completely still. That scared Morgan the most.

Garcia tried to calm the screaming baby, but he kept squirming and crying. Garcia felt her own hot tears falling.

"It's alright, shh, shh, mummy will be back soon." She rocked him more, but the wails continued. She was grateful when Maeve finally returned and took him from her.

Neither Maeve or Morgan spoke upon re-entry. They took their places again, and Maeve started to feed Georgy, her eyes seemed blank, dead almost.

"How is he?" Murmured Garcia. Morgan looked up and gave her a tight smile. _Not good_ , she thought to herself and she closed her eyes.

Spencer wasn't allowed visitors again for another few hours, so they waited for the others to come back. After around an hour there was a knock on the door, and the spirits in the room perked.

"Who is it?" Garcia chirped, pulling the door open, expecting her team to come in. A tall and skinny man with tidy, short brown hair, high cheekbones and a permenant look of seriousness in his brow stood before her. He looked surprisingly familiar, but Garcia couldn't put her finger on it. As she tried to decipher who he was, a sharp growl from behind brought her back to reality.

"No! Get out!" Snarled Morgan, making an aggressive arm motion for the man to leave.

"Please, just let m..."

"NO!" Morgan barked, upsetting the baby, who had been sleeping.

"Morgan calm down." Snapped Garcia, who had been thankful that Georgy had finally started to sleep.

"Baby girl, I will not have him here. He doesn't want you here!" Morgan spat, getting up, looking ready to hit the man.

"You can't stop me from seeing my son!" William defended, his arms up weakly.

"You gave up that right when you left him. Now get out!" Morgan tried to slam the door in his face. A doctor had come in to see what the fuss was. She looked at Morgan with irritation.

"Sir, I must ask you to calm down or we will be forced to remove you."

"You're Spencer's father?" Maeve asked, coming close to the man as Morgan seethed.

"Yes. I flew over as soon as I heard he was missing. Is he alright?" Maeve had heard lots of things about William Reid, but even so, she heard the clear worry lacing his voice. Morgan was about to start ranting, but Maeve placed a soft hand on his shoulder.

"They're not sure at the moment. I thinks he's improving, but he's not in a good condition." Explained Maeve sadly, Morgan had his arms crossed and he was looking away, his lip quivering with anger.

"What happened?" Mumbled William, licking his lips nervously. Morgan refused to say anything more to him, so Maeve took Willaim out the room and explained what had happened, and told him about Spencer's current condition. She was shocked when she saw the glistening tears in William's eyes.

"You're Maeve aren't you?" He whispered, looking her dead in the eyes. She nodded.

"I've been meaning to meet you. I-I've been stupid, I admit it. I never thought I could be his father again, I thought it was better to stay away." Maeve couldn't help feeling sympathy for William, he was pouring his heart out to her. "I'm sorry.." he breathed. Maeve didn't know what to say to her father-in-law, then something struck her.

"Now you've met me, would, uh would you like to meet your grandson." Williams eyes widened and he gaped at her. _Grandson?_ He'd missed too much. He couldn't answer and Maeve smiled, taking his silence as a yes. She motioned him into her room. Morgan stood up defensively as William entered, he was their own personal guard dog. Maeve slid her arms under the Baby in the glass crib and gently lifted him out, as not to wake him. She looked down at Georgy for a minute, unable to stop herself smiling at his tiny button nose and his crinkled brow.

"Maeve, he hasn't even met his father yet." Morgan hissed, glancing between William and Maeve with disbelief.

"And he will." She answered dismissively, placing the tiny boy in William's waiting arms. Instincts took over and William pulled the Baby close to his chest, careful not to wake him. He gasped when he looked down at his grandson. It was like deja vu, he remembered holding Baby Spencer in his arms, making funny faces to intice a smile. He remembered the warm feeling of love he'd felt for his son and he felt it renewed as he held his grandson.

Morgan had his back turned to the display, but Garcia was watching intently, trying to stifle her 'aw's. William looked up at a smiling Maeve and half laugh, half sobbed.

"He looks just like S-Spencer did", he choked, taking in a deep shuddering breath.

 **Sorry, there was meant to be so much more, but I got carried away, please forgive me. Next chapter will wrap this all up (I hope anyway.)**

 **Until then, TTFN!**


	18. I Miss You

**(DICLAIMER: I doth not ownith criminal minds *sadface*)**

 **Okay, okay, okay, this should be the last of this particular storyline. Bear with me.**

 **Enjoy, whatever this turns out to be, I have no doubt I will enjoy writing it.**

 **Here we go...**

The team arrived 2 hours after William, who, on the BAU's arrival, had been allowed to see his son, with the promise to leave straight afterwards - forced upon my none other than Derek Morgan. William was planning on returning when his son was awake. _If_ , William warned himself sadly.

"How is he? Any change?" Hotch asked. He hadn't had much sleep, but a warm shower, a fresh suit and a big mug of coffee later saw him a changed man.

"Not really." Mumbled Maeve, there wasn't anything she could add.

They spent much of the day in Maeve's room, twiddling their thumbs and talking quietly to each other. Eva and Maeve's parents came around noon, but Joe and Mary had to leave soon after for work. The doctors hadn't allowed Spencer another visitor for hours. At 2pm a nurse strode in with a smile across her face. The team looked up hopefully.

"Spencer is now breathing on his own. The doctor said he can have 2 visitors." There was a collective sigh of relief from the room.

"Maeve you and Eva should go." Hotch insisted, remaining where he stood.

"I'm not sure that's a good ideas", she muttered sadly.

"Pe's mummy", Eva bounced up and down on the side of the bed excitedly. "Eva will be good, p'omise", she begged. Maeve pinched the bridge of her nose and huffed.

"Alright." Eva squealed happily and pointed to Georgy's crib.

"Take bubba too!" She giggled, trying to pick him up on her own.

"No." Maeve pulled her away before she woke the baby. "You know daddy is asleep?" Eva frowned and pouted.

"But it's the afternoon", she gasped in astonishment, the others chittered at her comment.

"Could you watch Georgy?" Maeve asked JJ, who winked.

"It'd be my pleasure." Maeve ushered Eva from the room and the others retook their gloomy expressions. Morgan was still angry from William Reid's visit, so Garcia nudged his shoulder.

"Hey, grumpy guts, cheer up", she teased, stroking his muscular arm.

"I'm just pissed that _he_ held Georgy before Reid could", huffed Morgan, crossing his arms.

"So did you", Garcia added sheepishly. Morgan gave her a look that said ' _really'_ and she sunk back.

"You know, I think I'm going to be useful", announced Emily, sliding off her seat. Before anyone could question her she had slipped from the room

Maeve came back 20 minutes later smiling, Eva was in her arms, but she was sulking and Emily followed behind with her own smug smile.

"Thanks to Emily's persuasive powers, the doctor said we can all see him now." Garcia leaped up and whooped. Rossi appeared skeptical.

"Isn't that a lot of people in one room?" He asked, Garcia sent him a death look to which he held his arms up in surrender

"It's a pretty big room." Shrugged Maeve. She put Eva on the floor, and Emily took her hand. Maeve took Georgy from the crib, where he was still fast asleep and held him close.

"So, you guys coming?" She asked raising her eyebrows and gliding through the doors. No one needed to be told twice.

They filed into the room, wincing at the sight of Spencer. He looked all too small on the hospital bed. His skin was a sickly pale, with the exception of his bruises and the red burns branching up him arms and over. His throat was bruised, the finger marks turning to a dark purple, it painfully reminded them of what they'd witnessed on the tapes. He looked too small, too pale, too skinny, they didn't want to touch him in case he crumbled beneath their touch.

Reid's chest trembled with each breath, they could here him wheezing under the oxygen mask that had replaced the ventilator. The bags underneath his eyes drooped more than usual and were a deep pink. His hair was in need of a wash, but since Maeve had 'cleaned' it it looked 10 times better.

"Why's Daddy 'till s'eeping?" Whispered Eva, who's eyes were filling with tears again. She stuggled into Garcia to hide her face.

"I don't know, but he'lol wake up soon", Maeve said brushing the little girl's soft curls.

Alex was stood closest to the door as they all talked lightly, urging Spencer to wake up and telling him stories. Her chest began to feel tight. She took her eyes away from Reid, but the crushing tightness didn't go away. Was it her, or was the room too small. _Way too small,_ she thought, shuffling from one foot to the other. She closed her eyes, but visions of her son flashed over her closed eyelids. When she opened them, a fresh nightmare was lay right in front of her. She rubbed her face, willing the images of her son and her unconscious surrogate away, but they only became stronger and more vivid.

Rossi saw her distress, and put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at the contact.

"How about we get some coffee?" He said, getting up from his seat. Alex nodded slowly, thankful that no-one else noticed her behaviour. Once in the corridor Rossi turned to face her, _oh great,_ she thought, expecting some kind of confrontation.

"Go home Alex", he said simply, his eyes sympathetic on hers.

"But, what if...I can't jus..." she started mumbling.

"This isn't doing you any good. Go home, and I'll call you as soon as we have any news." Rossi smiled reassuringly at her.

"But.." Rossi pulled her into a hug, cutting her off.

"They'll understand. Now get outta here before you have a panic attack." He warned.

Rossi came back to the room alone, nobody questioned where Alex had gone, they'd all noticed her behaviour, even Maeve, who wasn't a profiler.

Morgan and Garcia started having a debate after they'd got accustomed to the room some hours later.

"You cannot be serious!" Gasped Garcia, waving her arms madly.

"It's not my sort of film, that's all." Morgan shrugged.

"Oh, but you love batman! How can you not like Spider-Man!"

"It just isn't the same baby girl. I like other superhero films, just not that crap." He smirked, when Garcia's mouth twitched in offence.

"CRAP! CRAP!" Maeve covered Eva's ears. "How dare you insult the best superhero film ever made! I mean, you can't not like Andrew Garfield, he's hot", she began fanning herself. Morgan rolled his eyes.

"Is that your what appeals you to that film so much?" Laughed Morgan. Garcia looked abashed.

"N..No!" She stuttered, which caused most of the team to laugh.

"Anyway, I'm not into superhero films much, I'm more of a **realistic** action type of guy."

"Urgh! You're sooooo boring, that's our job", groaned Garcia, putting particular emphasis on 'so'.

"Well go on then, what your favourite genre?"

"Science fiction of course, you name it I've seen it", She crossed her arms expectantly. Morgan didn't say anything, his mind was blank on science fiction. "Oh my God, don't tell me you don't like science fiction!" She cried, looking at the others for support on how mad he was being. Morgan smirked and shrugged. He eyes widened. "Don't tell me you've never seen Star Wars!" She uttered in disbelief.

"I made a vow never to watch them just to annoy Reid", they all laughed, and Garcia narrowed her eyes.

"Your loss", muffled a small voice. They all looked round to find Spencer sat up on his elbows, squinting around and frowning at Morgan. He noticed he was in hospital, and there was something covering his mouth, he moved the oxygen mask so his voice wasn't stifled. "D...did I get shot?" His raspy voice tore from his swollen throat, and he swallowed to try and sooth it. He was panting slightly, so he put the mask back over his face.

"Spence!" Maeve squealed, wrapping him into a hug, which he tried to reciprocate, but rather wheezed at the effort.

"Sorry, sorry." She murmured, releasing him, but the smile never dropping from her lips.

"Reid!" He heard several of his team gasp.

"Is that a yes?" His voice was barely above a whisper and came out in painful croaks. He rubbed his head and found a bandage there. His frown deepened. _Oh that's right,_ he thought as the drug induced cloud lifted from his memory.

"Oh yea", he chuckled feeling the painful gash on the back of his head. The team relaxed, having believed for a minute that he had amnesia. Reid also realised that he couldn't feel any pain, and his eyes whipped up to the morphine drip.

"And oh no", he muttered, trying to pull out the wire for the drip.

"Spencer stop!" Cried Emily, and the fear in her voice caught him and he paused.

"Reid, you need that. Just for a day or two", it wasn't a statement, Hotch was pleading with his young agent. Reid sighed at his voice and left the wire alone.

"Fine", he whispered, not liking the idea one bit. Morgan rubbed the sweat from his brow, relieved.

"It's about time you woke up", chuckled Rossi. Reid's eyes found Rossi's bandaged hands and he looked at the Italian, his eyes full of apologetic shame.

"Are you alright Rossi? That's my fault, sorry?" He said motioning to Rossi's burnt palms.

"I'm absolutely fine, Reid, much better than you anyway. And don't start blaming yourself for this, you and I both did the same", he raised his eyebrows comically, pointing to Reid's white clad hands. He held them up to his face and smirked.

"I wasn't thinking straight, I think I had a better excuse though", Reid tapped his head and then his leg and winked. Rossi shook his head, but continued to smile. _At least he's in good spirits,_ Rossi mused.

"Uh, Reid, your dad was here." Morgan admitted , rubbing the back of his neck. Reid's eyebrows furrowed, but he leaned back and sighed.

"I don't care about him," he answered simply, looking at the ceiling. A strange calm was held in his words.

"You're not mad?" JJ questioned, biting the inside of her mouth.

"Yea Reid, he saw Georgy before you could", Morgan grumbled, he had been hoping Reid was angry

"So you did pick my name", Reid smiled, closing his heavy eyelids. "Of course I've seen him, how do you think he got in that car?" Reid laughed, the others frowned at each other.

"But you were chained up?" Rossi furrowed his brow.

"Yea, no I didn't get him there, but I did convince Savannah to put him there. It's, uh, a moderately long story. I'll explain later." Neither Reid, nor his voice felt like explaining it now.

"Well that makes me feel better, pretty boy." Smiled Morgan.

"Does that mean you don't want to hold him?" Smirked Garcia, hoping to have the boy all to herself. Reid started fidgeting with his fingers, he looked up at them with puppy dog eyes. Georgy started fussing in his mothers arms, and she could tell he was about to cry

"No, no, I was just...uh... I would..." he rambled, luckily Maeve shut him up by placing Georgy in his arms. The baby's face was screwed up and they all held their breaths waiting for the crying, but none came. Garcia opened her eyes and found Reid with a look of pure happiness, gazing down at his son who was looking up with wide eyes, any trace of distress had completely vanished.

"Now how did you do that", moaned Maeve, who'd stuggled to calm Georgy at times.

"A magician never reveals his secrets", laughed Spencer, stroking a shaky finger down George's cheek. They sat like this for at least an hour. A doctor came in to check Spencer's vitals, she seemed surprised to find him awake so early. She insisted that he sleep, but Georgy had fallen asleep in his arms, and she didn't have the heart to force them apart.

"Spence, you really should get some rest", mothered JJ, who was beginning to notice Reid's dropping eyelids and trembling arms. Maeve took Georgy from him, managing not to wake him. Reid pouted for a minute, but agreed, leaning back against the comfy pillows.

Morgan pulled out a bag marked 'patient's personal belongings'.

"We should probably throw these clothes away", he muttered, slinging it over his shoulder.

"No, wait", hissed a groggy Reid, he reached out for the bag, and frowning, Morgan handed it over.

"Spence, you didn't have anything valuable on you. That's just your clothes." Reid ignored Maeve, and flung his unplastered arm inside the bag. His tongue stuck out in concentration as he dug around. A smile crossed his lips when his fingers landed on what he'd been looking for.

"Aha", he coughed, pulling out his converse. His smile faded when he saw them. The fabric on the one converse was charred almost to nothing, the logo on both shoes was tarnished with black and brown. On the same converse that was falling apart, the rubber sole was melted, making it appear like a runny egg.

"Oh", he said, looking a little crest fallen. "They were my favourite as well", he sighed, examining the damage further, as if he thought he could fix them.

"We'll get you new ones, okay? Just throw them away", Garcia had her nose turned up at the shoes. As Reid looked at them, the more he liked them. His smile returned.

"Uh, I think I'll keep them actually." He grinned. Hotch and Rossi put their head in their hands and laughed.

"No way! You are not keeping them Spencer." Maeve warned.

"Aw please!" He begged, leaning back and closing his eyes.

"No, Spencer, don't...you're not keeping them, I'll just throw them away when you fall asleep", Maeve shook her head in disbelief.

"Morgan, my last request before I sleep for at least a day , is that those shoes are not to be thrown away", Reid ordered, peeping though his eyelid to see his wife's frustration.

"Sure thing pretty boy", chortled Morgan.

"No, don't you dare encourage him, Derek", Maeve snapped.

"Hey, I'm not denying him anything, he's in hospital", Spencer smiled, keeping his eyes closed.

"Spencer Reid!" Huffed Maeve.

"Thanks so much, you're the best. Now I must get my rest", he faked a snore and grinned.

"FINE! But you can keep them in _your_ study", said Maeve giving in, but Spencer was already asleep.

 **One Month Later**

Reid was sat in a deck chair outside, flexing his arm, which he'd not long got out of his cast. It was still sore and stiff.

Morgan and Hotch were chatting at the barbecue, Henry, Eva and Jack were chasing each other around the garden, JJ was cuddling Georgy, whilst Maeve, Garcia and Emily gossiped loudly. Reid, Rossi, Will, James and Alex were sat together in the chairs they'd set out, waiting for the barbecue food to be cooked. Rossi had been trying to keep off the topic of work, but Reid kept rounding onto the subject.

"Reid, Hotch said if you pass the physical, which I have no doubt that you will, you can come back, but he's said that you've got to have at least three months off. No exceptions." Reid rolled his eyes. It's not like he didn't like the time off, he got more time to spend with Eva and Georgy, but he felt a nagging urge to work on a case.

"Can't I help out just a little", he begged.

"No!" Laughed Rossi when he saw Reid pouting.

"Foods up!" Called Morgan, Maeve hurried over with Georgy in her arms, just as Reid was stretching for his crutchs.

"Uh uh uh", she tutted, and handed Reid the baby before he could get up. "You stay there, I'll get you something. Hotdog?" She asked, and Spencer smirked. He looked down at Georgy who was smiling giddily from all the attention his colleagues had been giving him. He was dressed in a stripy navy and white sweater and soft, cream sweat pants.

Reid picked him up and held him above him, gaining a wide smile from the small baby.

"What have they been telling you?" He teased, wiggling the baby around in the air, causing him to make small happy noises.

"Drop the baby!" Said Garcia, hurrying over with her own plate of food and reaching out for a cuddle.

"Back off, he's mine", laughed Reid, wrapping his arms around Georgy.

"Aw! You're so mean!" She moaned flopping down in the chair next to him. Eva was hopping up and down as Maeve filled her a plate of food. "I guess I'll kidnap the other little genius" she grinned, watching her prey. Reid shook his head.

"Here, and don't get up from here again", Maeve warned handing Spencer his plate. Reid positioned Georgy against him, Spencer's arm supporting his head. The small baby watched with fascination as Spencer ate.

The chatter started up again alongside the laughter, and when silence broke out (for only a second), Spencer took his chance.

"So, how's work?" Everyone groaned in response.

 **There you go, everything's alright again. Oh and this isn't it!**

 **God, I hate writers block! Literally had a brain melt halfway through this, I had the middle and end all figured out, it's always the middle!**

 **Next chapter is out tomorrow, see you then!**


	19. New Faces

**(Disclaimer: I don't own criminal minds)**

 **This is the last chapter for now, I'm writing another story, but I may come back to this, so if you did like it, don't worry, I could yet return.**

 **This is just a little epilogue, enjoy!**

 **4 years later**

* * *

It was early September when summer break ended. That meant a cleaner house for Maeve, a quieter schedule for Spencer, and endless days of quiet for Merton- who did enjoy the attention of two youngsters, but having only short stumpy legs, it was quite a task for him to keep up. Eva was also pleased to go back to school and see her friends, she'd spent most of the summer with Georgy, Henry and Jack, and although she loved them very much, she wanted to spend time with her actual friends, who she could play dolls with, and plait each other's hair, she had been getting fed up of the boys company when all they wanted to do was play with dinosaurs and cars. Even when she had slumber parties she had to try and include her brother who didn't have any friends yet, except Henry and Jack.

Georgy was not too keen about summer break ending. He'd enjoyed spending time with his family. What he was most worried about was starting school. He was being enrolled in pre-school. Luckily the school he was going to was the same one Eva attended, it started with 4 year olds in a small pre-school class which was optional (Maeve had decided that this would be better than carrying on with a nanny), then it went to kindergarten and continued up like any other school would. Eva had gone to a different day care until she was 5 and could start kindergarten, but Georgy didn't take well to that particular day care and so had been with a nanny instead. It was time to move on, Spencer wanted him to make some friends (he was worried his son might end up like he himself was as a kid, and he couldn't face that.) When they first told Georgy the plan he'd cried. Eva had promised to look out for him and help him make friends, but he was still terrified. Since then he'd asked frightened questions to his parents, such as "what if no-one likes me?", "will they tell me off?", "but I don't know anyone?" And his most frequently asked, "will you stay with me?" When the actual day arose, Spencer and Maeve had butterflies for their little boy.

Spencer walked into Georgy's room to find him already awake and clutching his stuffed giraffe to his chest. Like Eva's fox, Spotty the Giraffe had gangly legs and had lost much of his colour from being well loved.

"Hey, what's wrong Buddy?" Spencer asked, sitting beside the boy and pulled him into a hug.

"I don't wanna go, Daddy", he whimpered, burying his face in Spencer's shirt.

"It's only for a couple hours, I'll be back for you before you know it, and then you'll want to go again", Reid reassured him, rubbing his back. The first day of pre-school was only 4 hours long so the children weren't thrown straight in the deep end. Reid had booked it with work so he could pick Georgy up afterwards and spend the day with him (he did have to promise some over time though, but he was no stranger to that.)

"I won't like it." He crossed his arms and pouted.

"Of course you will, and your big sister has promised to look after you", he turned Georgy to face him, taking his face into his palms and smiling. "Don't worry about anything, just have fun. I promise I'll come back, okay." Georgy gave a weak, accepting nod and Reid hugged him tightly.

"Come on. First day of school equals a big yummy breakfast. What do you fancy?" The boy smiled and this and hopped off his bed, his giraffe still clutched under his arm.

"Pancakes!" He cried, pulling Spencer from the room and into the kitchen.

Reid fixed two plates of pancake stacks and gave Georgy one doused in strawberry sauce. He tucked in with hungry enthusiasm.

Eva skipped in wearing a light blue summer dress and white tights. She'd clearly dressed herself: the dress was partly tucked into her tights and it was crinkled across her. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but she'd missed a big handful and the hair band was knotted into her curly mess.

"Come here you," Reid chuckled as he pulled the dress out of her tights and flattened it out. He then turned her around and worked on her hair.

"Ow, Daddy, that hurt!" She grumbled as Spencer pried the band from her curls.

"Well next time don't knot up your hair", he warned combing his fingers through her soft wavy hair. He proceeded to French braid her messy hair, something he'd become quite an expert at. Once he was done she stuck a hair clip, with a cat on it, randomly into her hair. Spencer rolled his eyes and put the clip in properly. She twirled around.

"How do I look Daddy?" She giggled as she spun. He caught her and tickled her sides, making her sequel.

"You look like a princess! Now go eat your pancakes Princess Eva." He released her and she dashed off to the table before he could tickle attack her again. Merton was waiting at Georgy's feet and when he was sure his father wasn't looking he dropped a small piece of pancake for the already fat sausage dog. Eva drowned her pancakes with chocolate sauce, licked her lips and gnawed through her stack.

Maeve jostled in with her bag and keys in hand. Spencer slid a travel cup of coffee towards his flustered wife and she smiled.

"Morning guys", she grinned, taking a bite of Spencer's toast and getting a pout from him for doing so.

"Mummy, Mummy, do I look like a princess!" Eva cried, standing up in her chair, with chocolate around her chops.

"My goodness!" Maeve bowed down. "Your majesty." She said with mock awe, causing the two kids to giggle.

"Right, I need to get to work. Have a good first day..." she kissed Eva and hugged her, "and be good for Daddy", she planted a kiss on Georgy's forehead and he held her tightly. "You'll be fine", she whispered "and when you're done Daddy will buy you a brand new toy." The boy pulled back his eyes wide. _Ah bribery, never fails_ , she thought, slinging her bag over her shoulder, kissing Spencer on the cheek and leaving.

"You two go get your bags ready, Eves can you help Georgy get dressed and make sure he only packs Spotty in his bag, I'll be right back", he warned, calling Merton into the garden.

The chunky dog waddled out into the garden and did his business then plodded back in and sat in his bed. Reid unlocked the doggy door and filled Merton's food and water.

"Me and Georgy will be back to walk you soon", Spencer promised, stroking the dogs silky head and receiving happy licks.

Spencer went into Georgy's room to find Eva trying to shove a shirt over his head.

"Gah!" Cried the little boy when he realised his arm was going into the wrong whole. Spencer helped him change and then checked their bags. Eva knew the drill and hadn't tried to hide her physics magic kit, Spencer had made her, into her bag. Georgy however had packed 3 other stuffed animals in his dinosaur bag and it was fit to burst. Reid shook his head and laughed putting the monkey, the tiger and the dolphin back on his bed.

Reid kept glancing in his rear view mirror at Georgy who looked pale and scared. Spencer hated to leave him, but knew he had to. They got to the school and Georgy took his father's hand tightly as they trudged to the playground. There was a teacher signing the kids in and sending the older ones to the big playground and the younger ones like Eva and Georgy to the little kids playground.

"Oh hey Eva! I see you bought your brother", the teacher smiled widely at them both.

"Hello, Dr Reid, good to see you again", she didn't offer her his hand knowing-after having Eva at the school for a while-that he didn't do that.

"And you, Eva's so excited to have you as her teacher."

"Aw that's wonderful. Well you have 20 minutes of playtime before class starts. And you little guy get to play for a little longer and then your teacher will set some games up inside, I expect Eva will show you around and tell you which teachers are which." She ruffled the nervous boys hair, he was eyeing the other children his age running around the playground.

"Go on in guys", Reid said nudging his kids, Eva started to pull her brother in, but he let go of her hand and turned to his daddy, hiding his face into his shirt. Spencer hugged him back.

"I promise I'll be back really soon", he kissed Georgy's cheek and pushed him over to Eva. Eva took his trembling hand and marched to their playground as if she already owned the place.

Spencer watched them go, and how Eva held Georgy's hand tight for protection. He sighed and watched for a little longer before heading to work.

"Hi, my names Danny" A short podgy little boy caught up with them and stood with his arms behind his back. Two other boys followed him, neither looked sure of each other or Danny. Georgy looked at Eva who smiled.

"What's your name?" Danny asked. Georgy shyed away, but whispered a little "Georgy", gripping Eva's hand tighter. She saw his fear and they started walking away, she didn't want to overwhelm her brother, Danny looked upset, so he and the other boys with him chased after them again.

"Wait.." his eyes darted around thinking of what to say. They were being meanies, he thought, he only wanted to talk. He felt a little angry and so he transferred that into his words, like he'd seen his dad so go his mummy. "Is...is that short for Georgina", he snapped. He expected the boys behind him to laugh, but they only exchanged nervous looks at the spiteful comment. Georgy didn't know what to say, he could already feel tears welling in his eyes. Lucky for him Eva pulled him behind her and sent daggers at the small boy.

"What was your name? Danny? Is that short for Daniela!?" She smirked when his little mouth dropped. "You leave my little brother alone", she hissed, "our daddy works for the police and he will arrest you if you don't." She sent her glare at the other boys who started quaking. "Come on Georgy", she chirped, her voice changing from something scary to something sweet and she skipped over to her friends who 'awed' at her little brother.

"Mummy said you shouldn't call people names", a small 4 year old girl with blonde pig tails came over and gutted at the boys.

" _We_ weren't!" Squeaked the two boys behind Danny. "I promised my daddy I wouldn't be mean to anybody!" The taller one squeaked proudly.

The little girl with pigtails bounded over to where Georgy was sat awkwardly with the older girls.

"Hi, I'm Grace! Don't listen to that meanie, I think you're name is super duper cool! My Grandads called George." She sat down on the floor beside him and he looked at her anxiously.

"Hi." He whispered.

"So you have any other friends?" She asked, scooting closer. He shook his head sadly.

"I don't have any friends too, in my old daycare everybody thought I was too loud and nosy", she looked down at her fingers, crestfallen. She was drawn out of her sad memories by a small voice.

"I don't think you are too loud or nosy", Georgy said, looking kindly up at the girl.

"No? Really? Hey, why don't we be friends? Only if you want to though?" She fidgeted nervously, holding her breath, thinking this was too good to be true.

"Can we?" Gasped Georgy, this was easier than he thought.

"Only if you want to b..."

"Yes please!" He cut her off excitedly. Eva was listening and grinned proudly.

"Yay! Come on, let's go play with some of the toys!" She grasped his hand in hers.

"Bye Eva!" Beamed Georgy, running off with his new friend.

She took him to the sandpit and sat down patting the spot next to her.

"Let's build a giant castle!" She squealed.

"Yea! A..and you be the Pwincess and I be the Pwince"

"No, I'll be the Qween and you can be the king!" Georgy's eyes lit up when he heard this. They started building. It ended up looking like a giant mound with a flag on top and several toy knights stuck around it. They were so engrossed that they didn't notice one of the little boys who'd been with Danny come and sit with them. It was the taller one, the other was playing with some other boys, pushing trucks over small mounds of grass.

"Hi", he mumbled, waving a shy hand at them.

"Hi!" Chorused Georgy and Grace in unison. The boy smiled and sat opposite them and their castle.

"Could I play with you?" He whispered, looking longingly at their castle.

"Sure!" Georgy grinned, before Grace could answer. He was so happy he was making friends. His Mummy and Daddy had been right.

"Thank you!" He gasped looking at Georgy as if he were a hero.

"What's your name?" Grace said, adding a fairy to the 'castle'.

"Uh, I'm Asher. What's yours?" He rambled, looking at his two new friends.

"Im Grace and you already know Georgy".

"Yea. I'm sorry Danny was not very nice to you, I don't know him very well. Is your Daddy really a policeman?" He asked nervously, biting his rather puffy bottom lip.

"Yep, he works for the FBI, that's a part of the police." Grace's mouth dropped open.

"I know what that is! They are like the special part of the police! They always get the bad guys!" Asher' eyes went wide and Georgy blushed.

"Yea, he has to catch all the meanest bad guys there are!" He said proudly.

"Wow!" exclaimed Asher and Grace together.

"I know, let's play cops and robbers, Georgy you're the first cop and when you catch us we become cops too." Grace suggested, dusting off the sand she'd accumulated.

"Yea that sounds fun!" Asher agreed, getting to his feet and offering Georgy his hand. It turned out that Georgy was pretty fast and he caught Asher first.

"You have to help me now!" He giggled, and they both made guns with their fingers and looked for Grace.

"Nah nah! You can't get me!" Shouted the blonde haired girl, who was stood on the wooden train, sticking her tongue out and wiggling her bum. The two boys exchanged looks and nodded. They chased her around the quieter part of the playground, laughing and shrieking. When they finally got her, they piled on and had to hold their the stitches in their sides. Grace sat up when she sat someone approaching.

"Officer Georgy, Officer Asher, we have company." They looked up to see a teary eyed Danny standing a little way away from them.

"What do you want!" Snapped Grace, putting her hands on her hips. Danny's lips trembled and he burst into tears. Her hands fell from her sides and she suddenly looked very guilty. No-one knew what to say.

"I...im s..s...sowy", he hiccupped, trying to stem his tears. Georgy got up slowly and tapped Danny's back.

"What's wong?" He whispered, worried the boy would be mean again.

"I was mean to you, I'm a..sowy! No-won wants to play with me", he sobbed, pointing to all the other children playing happily.

"Why won't anyone pay with you?" Asher asked, coming to stand by his friends. The smaller boy pointed at his shoes, which were a pair of white trainers with light pink stripes.

"They l..laughed a..and said I have g...girls a..shoes on!" The other three exchanged looks; the shoes did look like they belonged to a girl.

"I can't have a..any new wons until m..my birthday. These are my s..sisters old wons." He admitted, his honesty was rewarded.

"I like them", smiled Grace.

"B..but you're a g..girl..."

"Soooo" she hissed.

"I think he means that you would like them because you like pink, don't you?" Georgy already knew she did from the sparkly pink top and neon pink hair bows she had on.

"Ooooh, right", she laughed. Danny stopped crying, but his lip kept quivering.

"You can play with us..." Danny looked up hopefully, "but, you have to promise not to say mean things", Asher warned, pulling himself up to his full height and standing over Danny. Danny nodded his head vigorously.

"I..I pwomise, I'll never be mean a..again", he put his hand over his heart. "I on'y said that cus I thought you were being mean and ignoring me. I'm sowy." He put his head down solemnly.

"Yippeee! I can't wait to tell my parents about all my friends! Let's play some more cops and robbers, Georgy and Danny can be the cops and you have to get us!" She ran off with Asher's hand in hers before they could change their minds.

They played outside for another 20 minutes before they went inside. The supervisor pushed the quieter children to play with some other kids and she set up games for them all to play. After a few hours, Georgy and his 3 new friends were lay colouring in, in a makeshift circle so they could still talk. Georgy picked up a blue felt tip and had an idea.

"Hey Danny." The other boy looked up from the fireman he was colouring in.

"Yea?" Georgy grabbed Danny's foot making him laugh and started colouring in the pink stripes with the blue felt tip. Grace and Asher joined in, but since none of them were very coordinated, it was more than the stripes they coloured in.

"I wanna try. Let's colour them all in." Danny smiled, stretching his feet out and grabbing the colours.

"Hey, hey! Kids don't colour on your shoes!" Cried one of the supervisors. Danny looked up with a big grin.

"Don't worry miss, these are old and I'm getting new wons."

"Oh well I guess that's okay, but you need to stop, I don't want any of the other children colouring themselves in okay." They nodded and scooted back to admire their work.

"Wow weee!" Gaped Grace.

"Look how cool they are!" Danny stood up and jumped up and down in his new colourful shoes.

* * *

"Reid you're so fidgety today, I mean more than usual." Morgan pointed out, ruffing up Spencer's hair.

"I'm just worried that's all, the first day of school determines social..."

"I'm sure he's fine, Spence", JJ put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Spencer glanced at the clock and then back at his paper work. There was still two hours left. Hotch had been watching the youngest agent beside Rossi and he'd come to a decision, he made his way down to the bullpen and halted in front of Spencer.

"Go Reid. Your heads not in it right now. Go see if Georgy wants to be picked up early. It doesn't matter if not, you can stay there and wait for him before you drive us insane." The others were smirking and Reid sat with his mouth open.

"B..but..."

"Go!" Rossi, JJ and Emily groaned in unison. Reid jumped up at their shout and knocked things all across his desk. He tried to tidy it up but was just making more mess.

"Just go, we'll sort that", Alex laughed as Reid flustered over his desk, and tripped on his chair leg.

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" He said, holding his arms up and stumbling away. He straightened up at the glass door and waved awkwardly at them before walking away. He still walked with a slight limp, especially when he'd been stationary for a while. The others laughed at his clumsy display.

"I was exactly the same on Jacks first day. I waited outside of his school for 2 hours for him to finish." Admitted Hotch, smiling at the memory.

"You men are softies", laughed JJ "Will did exactly the same on Henry's first day."

* * *

"Okay Kids, sit down, you remember the rules I told you? When my hands up I expect you to all do the same and be quiet." She raised her arm and the kids followed her and stopped chatting.

"Good, well done, guys! It's home time now, you're going to file out into the playground in twos and wait for your parents to pick you up. If your mummy's and daddy's aren't there yet you can go and play until they are, but you must stay in the playground. Okay, follow me." She walked to the door and opened it letting the children out. Some of them ran straight to play ignoring their parents. Georgy, Grace, Asher and Danny were among them.

Spencer had been waiting beside the fence for around an hour. He'd been squinting at the windows trying to see Georgy, but he only saw crazy children bouncing around the room. When the kids were finally let out, he stood waiting for his son to run to him, but no such thing happened. He watched as other kids embraced their parents and they swiftly left. Some of the children were playing, but he assumed their parents weren't there yet. There was a young woman next to him was also glancing around anxiously. He finally spotted Gerogy playing with three other children in a wooden pirate ship. He smiled and decided to let them play a little longer. Their were only a few other kids left. He looked at the woman who still hadn't found her child.

"Uh, excuse me, it that one of your kids there?" Reid asked, pointing to the boat, the woman's eyes lit up.

"Oh yes, there he is. Thank you. He's the uh...tall one, which ones yours?", she smiled awkwardly.

"The smallest one with brown curls", Reid said proudly. "I didn't expect him to make many friends, so I certainly wasn't expecting this", he laughed.

"No, my Asher can be pretty shy as well."

A bubbly blonde walked over, her lips cracked into a huge smile.

"I take it one of those are yours. Hi I'm Martha Blake and that's my little Gracie in the pink", she chuckled at how much her daughter stood out amongst the boys.

"You thought correct. I'm Alison Taylor and the tall one is my son Asher. Oh you never told me your name", she raised her eyebrows and turned to Reid.

"Oh sorry, I'm Spencer Reid and that's Georgy.."

"Don't worry, I could tell he was your son as soon as I saw him, he's literally your mini-me", laughed Martha.

Georgy was walking the plank when he saw his Daddy.

"Daddy!" He shrieked jumping off the plank causing Grace to over dramatise.

"Look mateys, he jumped, the giant squid is gonna get him now!"

Georgy ran across the playground and launched himself into Spencer's arms.

"Hey buddy!" He huffed as Georgy knocked the breath from him. "Good day?" The women awed at the father and son.

"Uh huh. Look Daddy, I made fwends, weal ones!" He jumped from Reid's arms and pointed at the 3 children who had also run up to greet their parents. Danny stood sheepishly until a woman rushed over.

"Sorry I'm late honey!" She said embracing the little boy. She looked around a smiled shyly.

"Mama, these are my fwends!" Danny said excitedly, pulling his new friends into a hug.

"Really? That's great honey!" She stood up and greeted the other women and Reid. "I'm Samantha and you've probably already met Danny" They introduced themselves and their kids.

Reid suddenly remembered that he'd left his paperwork at the office, he glanced at his watch.

"it was nice to meet you ladies, but I have some things to pick up from work before i come and pick up my other one", he looked down at the children who appeared to be watching him with wonder. "I'll probably see you all tomorrow, and you guys can play for even longer", he winked at the 4 year olds and their eyes grew wider. they were looking at his belt for something, he had a feeling he knew what and he grinned. He pulled Georgy's Dinosaur backpack over his shoulder, and took the boys hand.

"see you guys tomorrow", the ladies said beaming at the two.

"Daddy does that mean we get to see the team", Georgy asked as they turned away.

"yea, but just remember that they will be working. oh and if you see a set of sparkly pink fingernails, stay away, Auntie Penelope will probably want to steal you." The women heard Reid say.

"Can we play quick draw again?"

"Uh, Georgy, we're not supposed to speak of that, remember, our secret." they were out of earshot after that.

"Well i must say it's nice to see a father pick his children up from school", Alison said, raising her eyebrows.

"You're telling me!" Laughed Samantha, she glanced at the kids who were whispering among themselves. "Especially when they look as cute as him", she winked, the other women laughed but didn't disagree.

"Did you see his gun mummy?" Danny asked his mother hopefully.

"Gun!?" Cried Martha.

"I don't think he had it", Grace mumbled with disappointment.

"Why would Mr Reid need a gun?" Alison questioned.

"Georgy said his daddy is a policeman!" Asher shouted excitedly.

"Yea, he said he works for the FBI."

"Oh wow!" Martha murmured. the three women gawped at the tall father putting his son in the car. He walked with the slightest of limps. He caught them staring and waved over before sliding into his car. He looked round at Georgy with suspicion.

"What exactly did you tell them?"

* * *

To Be Continued or Not To Be Continued that is the question?

 **I really like this story, Just because it's so sweet.**

 **For now this is the end, but i shall return, if that's what you guys would like.**

 **Oh and by quick draw (fast hands) I mean the game where they unholster their guns as quickly as they can, there's a video of MGG and AJ cook doing it on YouTube.**

 **Thanks for reading, much love!**

 **See you soon, next story will be up in a few days!**


	20. Show and Tell

**Little update for you guys, I can't give this story up!**

"You can't take that! I already did!" Eva yelled over the table. Georgy looked down at his food and pushed it around with his fork.

"Of course you can take it Georgy", Maeve reasssured, placing a soft hand on his shoulder.

"But he's copying meeeee", whined Eva, kicking the legs of her chair in frustration.

"That doesn't matter", Spencer said, smiling at his pouting children.

"Yes. It. Does." Moaned Eva again, slamming her cutlery down. Reid put his own knife and fork down and looked at Eva.

"Eva, if Georgy wants to take my badge he can. It's not up to you." Eva's bottom lip trembled as she looked at her father, Spencer kept his eyes on her, waiting for the crocodile tears. A small voice interrupted their stare off.

"It's okay, Daddy. I'll take somefing else", he rested his chin in his palm, his elbow on the table, looking mournfully at his plate. Reid looked over at his son sympathetically. His hair was slowly growing out into a mop of curls like Spencer's and Maeve had promised them both an extreme haircut, (Georgy had only agreed if he could have the same cut as Spencer.) All four family members shared brown eyes, Spencer and Eva's were more Hazel and flaked with hints of gold and Georgy and Maeve's were a deep, dark chocolate brown which people seemed to get lost in. Georgy was wearing his button down pjs, dotted with animated dogs, that looked similar to Merton. Eva was in similar pyjamas, but hers were pink instead of green, and were covered in butterflies.

Spencer watched them all, deep in thought. Maeve looked at him with interest.

"What are you thinking?" She asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowing and a smile creeping across her lips. His face changed from thoughtfulness to excitement, he bounced up from his seat.

"I know _exactly_ what you can take!" He beamed, rushing from the room, leaving Eva and Maeve frowning and Georgy giddy and eager.

"What is it Mummy!?" Georgy asked, jumping in his seat with anticipation. Maeve opened her mouth to answer, but not knowing, she closed it and kissed her teeth.

"We'll have to wait and see", she grinned, taking another mouthful of pasta. Eva was glaring around at them all.

"Where's my surprise?"she jibbed, crossing her arms.

" _You_ didn't want to share", was all Maeve said, making the girl grumble even more.

Spencer skipped back in with something hanging from his fingers. Maeve instantly shook her head.

"No way! Spencer, I've warned you about those!" Hissed Maeve. Georgy was practically quivering with excitement.

"Cool!" He cheered, making Eva sink into her seat even more.

* * *

Georgy kept his show and tell items in his backpack, refusing to show Grace, Danny and Asher no matter how much they begged and showed him theirs.

Danny was in front of Georgy on the register so he went first. He held up a 5 note.

"I went to Bwitain and we had to get new money. Mummy let me keep dis won." He held it up proudly to his classmates who gaped at it and shared several 'wow's, as they had with every other kid.

"Very nice Danny, does anyone have a question for Danny?" Several eager hands reached into the air. "Rebecca."

"Who's 'fat?" A small girl with short black hair and a thick fringe pointed at the woman on the note. Danny looked at it and scratched his head.

"That's the qween of England", Georgy announced, seeing his friend lost for words. "My Daddy said she's been the qween for the longest time ever!" He said proudly, although Spencer hadn't worded it exactly like that. Danny smiled at his friend in relief.

"That's right Georgy. Do you know what she does Danny?" Georgy held his breath, desperate to answer again.

"Uh... she wules the kingdom, like a king", he said apprehensively, looking at the teacher for confirmation.

"Yep, sort of."Danny smirked proudly.

"Okay, uh, Grace." The teacher pointed at Grace who was at on her heals trying raise her arm higher than everyone else's.

"Why is it blue?" She blurted, her eyes wide and curious. No-one knew the answer, not even the teacher, Danny looked to Georgy for help, but his daddy had never told him the answer, athough Spencer did know the answer. "Why isn't it green like ours?"

"Well not all of our money is green, and not all English money is blue. I don't think there is a particular reason", the teacher said thoughtfully, trying to hide her cluelessness.

* * *

"You didn't!?" JJ threw her head back and laughed.

"I'm surprised Maeve even let you give them to him", grinned Emily, pushing her mounting paperwork to one side.

"She didn't entirely agree, but it kept him happy", Reid scribbled across his work as he spoke, a smile implanted on his face.

"You get away with way too much, Pretty Boy" chuckled Morgan, flicking Spencer's hair into his eyes.

"I think it's pretty cool. I'd love a dad like you", Said Garcia, patting Reid's shoulder, he blushed deeply and scribbled faster. "Anyway..." she tapped the files in her hand, "case time, my little crime fighters!"

* * *

"Georgy, why don't you come and show us what you brought in", Georgy got to his feet clumsily, eager to show what he'd brought. He pulled his bag after him. He stood in front of his classmates, suddenly feeling anxious. He saw his friends: Danny, Asher and Grace, smiling at him and giving him a thumbs up, so he took a deep breath and started.

"I wanted to bwing my Daddy's badge, it says FBI on it and he has to show it to people and he can use it to awest bad guys. But my sister aweady showed it, so my Daddy gave me somefing else", Georgy pulled a carrier bag from his bag, but kept it hidden, keeping his friends on edge. "I was taken away by a bad guy when I was born, but my Daddy saved me. There was a big fire and Daddy was burnt", Georgy pulled open the bag and revealed a pair of old converse. The fabric was brown and charred and beginning to fall apart. The laces were still intact, but they looked like white marsh mellows held over a campfire. The worst part was the rubber, the one shoe was almost completely melted, like when someone leaves an ice cream on a hot day. It had hardened this way. Georgy held them in the air smugly and he received the biggest amount of gasps.

"These were his favwote shoes, but he saved me instead", Georgy announced.

"They are so cool!" A skinny ginger boy gasped, edging closer.

"Can we touch them?" The little girl called Rebecca asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"Sure", he passed them over and all the children seemed to gather to touch the shoes.

"Did he get new ones?" Danny asked over the cheering.

* * *

Reid sat in the conference room, tossing in ideas for their newest case. His mind kept wandering to his son, he wondered if the show and tell had been a success. He began to jig nervously, eager to see Georgy and ask how it all went. Under the table a pair of black converse tapped the floor unconsciously.

 **Sorry it's only short, I've been busy on a new story, I'm actually trying to plan this new one out so it's taking a little longer.**

 **I'll keep coming back to this story, I'll stop when I get to 100k words...or will I...**


	21. The Slumber Party

**(Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds or it's characters)**

 **Another update...enjoy!**

The slumber party

"How many kids d'you have at yours tonight?" Rossi asked, hiding his smirk under his ringed fingers.

"4 and that's not even including Eva and Georgy", sighed Reid, rubbing his face and wondering how he would cope.

"Hey I'll give you a hand with them until bedtime if you let Henry stay", JJ offered.

Hotch walked into the conference room as she made the deal.

"Count Jack in. Maybe I can finally have that dinner with Beth that I promised." Reid looked at his boss and his colleague with a resigned look. He smiled and shook his head.

"I guess 6 kids just became 8", he laughed.

"Go big or go home, as I always say", winked Garcia.

"Oh, you can help too!" Reid said, collaring Garcia in before she could complain. The others began to laugh and Reid's eyes whipped to them.

"Nope!" Rossi, Alex, Emily and Morgan cried in unison, backing away with their arms up.

"Calm down, not everyone should suffer tonight."

"Oh is it just me! I didn't volunteer for this", Garcia moaned, her hands on her hips.

"Yea, but you love kids so..." Garcia couldn't argue with him on that and just narrowed her eyes, smirking at him.

"What time are they coming?" JJ asked.

"I'm picking them all up from daycare and school in about..." he checked his watch, "2 hours."

"What have you bought for tonight?" Garcia questioned, twirling her pink fluffy pen between her teeth.

"Uh, a couple of Pizzas and ice cream"

"Is that all!?" Garcia chided, sighing at Spencer's frown and his lack of knowledge in slumber parties.

"Hotch are we done?" She asked, standing up from her chair.

"I suppose I can let you go now, but you need to get the paperwork on your desk done by Tuesday", Garcia grimaced, remembering how her pile had grown so tall that she had to start 2 new piles beside it. Spencer glanced to his desk, where he'd already finished most of his pile and only 6 were left to go.

"Sure thing Boss man. You and I, my wonderful boy-genius, are going shopping! If you want to have a real slumber party you need more than pizza and ice cream, you have so much to learn!" She grabbed Reid's hand, yanking him from his chair.

"I'll drop Jack off at 4!" Hotch called as Spencer was roped out of the conference room by Garcia with JJ hurrying after them.

"Okay! You owe me though!" Reid shouted back as he was kidnapped.

* * *

"Garcia, one bags enough, I don't want these kids bouncing off the walls. They'll never sleep with all.. PENELOPE! We don't need 3 packets of chips ahoy. Will you... my god, put down those Oreos!" Reid was being involuntarily dragged around Walmart, Garcia was throwing all sorts of snacks in the trolley and Reid and JJ were watching with reluctance.

"Come on Boy Wonder, it's a 'slumber party', 'party' equals candy."

"Yea, but this will easily put the kids into a sugar coma", JJ muttered, motioning to the growing pile of candy in the cart. Garcia waved them off, but Reid managed to put 3 of the 4 packets of Reese peanut butter cups back on the shelf.

"You forced me to help, so we're going to do this my way." Reid and JJ glanced at each other and groaned.

* * *

"Georgy, wait for us!" Grace rushed over to his side as he skipped out into the playground where the waiting parents were.

"Sorry, I'm just weally excited!" He admitted, stopping for his other friends to catch up. Asher hopped up next to him on his right and Danny came up next to Grace.

"I can't wait!" Asher said with a big grin, revealing a set of pearly baby teeth, two of which were missing in the bottom row. They saw their parents stood chatting by the fence and ran up to them.

"You sure you can handle these guys?" Martha said, giving Spencer a sympathetic look.

"He's got help", Garcia winked, making Reid roll his eyes.

"It's so nice of you to be helping, if Asher's naughty don't hesitate to call me", Alison insisted making Garcia laugh. They were interrupted by 4 small children running up to them. Reid and Garcia had arrived early along with the mothers of Georgy and Eva's friends. They'd loaded Reid's trunk with the kids overnight bags because JJ's trunk was already full with their shopping. They put all the booster seats in the cars and waited for the kids. JJ had left to get Henry.

"Are you guys ready for the best slumber party ever?!" Garcia cheered, kneeling down to high five the youngsters.

"Yea!" Cried Grace, jumping up and down. Danny and Asher nodded shyly and Georgy jumped into Garcia's arms.

"Behave Danny, I don't want to hear that you've misbehaved", warned Samantha, planting a warm kiss on her sons cheek.

"Yea, Georgy's daddy will arrest you if your not good", Asher warned seriously, making the adults laugh.

"Can we go now!" Grace begged, still jumping around.

"We've just gotta wait for Eva and her friend to come out", Reid said and as if on cue out came Eva, pulling her friend along behind her. Both girls had brown hair, Eva's was long and curly, whereas her friend's was straight and short, with a full fringe shrouding her eyes. Her friend had light green eyes and endless freckles on her pale skin. Eva saw her daddy and her Aunt and jogged over happily.

"Hi Daddy, hi auntie Pene! This is my best-friend Amelia", she held her friend's hand and smiled broadly at the adults, who couldn't help but smile back. The kids were already aquatinted with each other. The parents all said their goodbyes, but Georgy noticed that they hadn't left yet.

"Daddy can we go now?" He asked, eager to show his friends around his house.

"Aunt JJ is picking up Henry and bringing him over, we need to wait for them to come back."

"Is Henry staying?" Whispered Eva.

"Yep, and Jack", Garcia confirmed. Eva and Georgy whooped loudly.

"Here they are, time to go guys."

Grace, Eva and Amelia sat in the back of JJ's car, with Garcia in the front, who talked all of their ears off, even Grace was struggling to keep up. Reid took the boys, with Georgy, Asher and Danny in the back and an 8 year old Henry in the front.

* * *

Hotch was already waiting at the house, Jack was tapping his feet with anticipation. Reid parked and Henry jumped straight out and ran to Jack, hugging the 11 year old and pushing him to the door.

"Thanks Reid, I'll be back in the morning to pick him up. Jack, be good for Uncle Spencer." Hotch was back in his car and pulling away before Reid could actually talk to him.

"Okay kids, why don't you all play in the garden while the adults get everything ready", JJ smiled at the 7 children.

"Can I take Merton outside, Daddy?" Georgy asked with the chunky sausage dog half in his clutch, his fat little legs wiggling in the air.

"Okay, but be careful with him", Reid said, emptying the candy they'd bought on the counter.

"Cool!" Grace and Georgy yelled, carrying the idle dog into the garden.

"I'll watch them, Spencer", Garcia offered as she was forced outside by two little hands belonging to Eva and Amelia.

Jack managed to wrangle all the children up, Georgy was still carrying the reluctant sausage dog.

"Let's play tag. I'll be it first. Rules are that you're not allowed to go into the house and that the shed is den." The others gazed up at the older boy and nodded in agreement.

"Okay, You all can run now and I'll count to 3 and then come get you", the kids dispersed, Georgy was determined to take Merton with him, and the dog just lay in the boy's arms with little care.

Jack did a slow run and after a minute he tagged Eva. Eva then tagged Asher who then got Georgy. Georgy couldn't run with Merton, so finally, he put the dog down and chased after his friends.

Merton saw Garcia sat on a chair swing and plodded over to her. Garcia felt something soft nuzzle her fingers. She looked down and saw the long snout of the dachshund and his big brown eyes goggleing up at her.

"Oh alright, come here you silky little angel", she pulled the fat dog onto her lap and let him snuggle there whilst she watched the kids.

"Hey guys, who wants to come inside and have some snacks?" JJ called revealing a packet of Oreos which managed to rope all the kids inside. "Coming Garcia?" She glanced over at her friend who was sat with a happy dachshund sleeping on her lap.

"Give us a minute", she closed her eyes as the sun began its decent.

The sweets and chocolates were spread over the coffee table like a buffet and the kids started stuffing their faces.

"Slow down, we still have pizza", warned Reid, which made their eyes go bigger. Spencer then walked in with a big pile of blankets and pillows. Eva turned to him and dropped her cookie, she knew exactly what he was planning.

"Pillow forts!" She squealed, grabbing the neatly folded blankets.

* * *

Maeve walked in at 7 after a girding day at work. She prepared herself for a messy house, full of screaming children. She opened the door quietly and was pleasantly surprised.

The TV in the sitting room was blaring and several youngsters were gathered around it, covered in sleeping bags, blankets and pillows. They were watching episodes of Mr Bean. Asher, Danny and Georgy were fast asleep. Merton had wriggled his way between Georgy and Grace and was sleeping peacefully in Georgy's small arms. Grace was still awake, though her head was slowly falling from her hands.

Eva and Amelia were engrossed in the TV, laughing every few seconds. Henry and Jack were lay, top and tail on the couch, they too were watching the show intently, but Jack was smiling as opposed to his younger friends giggles.

She grinned at the sight and tiptoed to the kitchen. She found her husband and Garcia sipping coffee and chatting.

"Was that so bad?" She whispered. The two agents looked up and smirked.

"Well then, you're dealing with them in the morning", chortled Spencer, wiping Maeve's smile from her face.

 **Sorry this was short, I got major writing block whilst I was writing it.**

 **I'll update soon.**

 **Please review.**


	22. Bonfires, beer and Bad Memories

**(Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds or it's characters)**

 **I've almost finished the first chapter of my new story, so you should expect that soon, maybe tomorrow.**

 **To answer you ahowell, I haven't actually decided on them having another child, it's definitely a possibility, but I don't want to rush this.**

 **Okay, this is just a quick little update, enjoy!**

* * *

Georgy raised his arms to Reid who shook his head and obliged.

"Aren't you getting too old to be carried?" He asked the four year old, who answered by putting his head on Spencer's shoulder and under his chin. Spencer smiled and grabbed the bag he and Maeve packed, full of drinks and toys.

Maeve took Eva's hand and they all made their way to Rossi's front door.

"You, my young friends, are late!" Chuckled Rossi, as he opened the door on the small family.

"Sorry, _someone_ lost their trainers", his eyes travelled to the white and blue stripped trainers strapped to Georgy's feet. Rossi's smile broadened.

"It's fine kid, looks like you're loosing your early bird status", Reid winced at the realisation as Rossi brought them out back where his team and their families were sat laughing and drinking.

"Pretty boy! Where've you been?" Morgan called, beer in one hand and a giggling Hank in the other.

"One word: kids", laughed Reid.

"Amen!" Hotch, Will and Savannah agreed, raising their glasses.

"Hey!" Jack frowned, shoving Hotch's shoulder lightly as they laughed at his expense. Reid set Georgy on his feet, Georgy's eyes caught Jack and Henry and his little legs were pumping off in their direction within seconds. Eva followed him to the older boys.

"Whatcha playin'?" She asked, her arms behind her back as she rocked on her toes.

"Soccer!" Henry announced, motioning to the ball by his feet.

"Cool!" Georgy bounced up and down with excitement.

"Eva, you can be on a team with Henry and George, you can come with me", the younger boys eyes became saucers and he glued himself to Jack's side.

Spencer looked over his shoulder at the kids and grinned when they started a game. Hotch was also watching happily. Maeve took a bottle of beer from the cooler. JJ offered one to Reid, winking at Morgan and Garcia.

"Spence?" She offered him the bottle, but he held his hand up.

"Sorry, designated driver", he motioned to Maeve, who had just taken a big swig of her drink. She shoved him playfully.

"I'm not going to get drunk on you, Spencer", she giggled, taking another refreshing gulp.

"Quite a pile you've got there", Reid gazed at the pile of wood collected in the middle of the garden, ready to be burned.

"Well, we had to do it properly", Garcia chattered, folding her arms and admiring the wood.

"You didn't even help collect it", smirked Emily. Garcia was about to argue, when Rossi clasped his hands together.

"Well, shall we get it burning then?" He raised his eyebrows and was answered by several nods and Morgan and Will getting to their feet. The kids stopped playing and watched the adults light the fire wood.

"Hey, not too close buddy", Morgan put his arm in front of an intrigued Georgy, who was focused on the orange flames. Despite Derek's warnings, Gerogy tried to get closer. "Come on George, stay back, you don't to want to get burnt", Georgy looked up as if suddenly realising Morgan was there.

"Oh, sorwy", he whispered guiltily.

"It's alright, buddy, but fire isn't to be played with, understand?", Morgan grimaced, remembering when he'd seen Reid's healing burns. Georgy nodded, and backed away into his sisters arms, she held him in place as the fire grew.

"Can we toast marshmallows on it?" Asked Henry, gabbing a bag and giving it to JJ for her to open.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but you can only toast these on the chiminea by us", at this Henry left the bonfire to toast his sugary treats.

The bonfire danced and reached up to the night sky. It hissed and spat as it waved and everyone watched it with a childish fascination. They were pulled out of their awe by Hank's crying.

"It looks like it's someone's bedtime", Savannah sighed, standing up and tucking the baby on her hip.

"You can settle him in one of the guest rooms", Rossi offered. Morgan raised his half full beer bottle, shaking it for emphasis. Savannah rolled her eyes and went to put Hank to bed. Reid looked at his watch and winced. It was 8.42, way past both Eva and Georgy's bedtime, but they were both still skipping around the garden with their older 'cousins'.

Maeve got up to look at the fire closely. Reid took the opportunity to spend some time with his wife, so he followed quietly behind.

To Spencer she looked graceful, her silhouette stood against the duelling flames. He edged closer, a feeling of tranquility washing over him.

He was about to reach her fingers when the smoke from the fire wafted into Spencer's face making him stumble back spluttering. Images filled his head, bombarding him with unforgotten and traumatic memories. Savannah Richards' face was in front of him, surrounded by flames. She smiled sickeningly at his discomfort as her face cooked and browned, the skin practically peeling off the bone, revealing bloody flesh and muscle. Her eyes spun and began melting from their sockets, dripping into Spencer's lap which was also being devoured by fire. His leg roasted while flames crackled beneath it. He closed his eyes from the offensive of flashbacks that threatened to swallow him. The smell of smoke faded and as he opened his eyes he saw grass and navy sky, instead of a dark room bursting with flames and burning human flesh.

* * *

Maeve was watching the bonfire smoke and spit, standing close enough to feel the warmth. Spencer was stood a little behind her, but he began edging closer to her, seeking her fingers in his. She felt the tips of his fingers inch over hers until suddenly their presence disappeared. She turned back to see Spencer coughing and stuggling to breath, his eyes wide with fear. He stumbled backwards away from the bonfire and fell back onto the grass, breathing heavily as if he were having a panic attack.

"Spence?" Her voice hitched with panic as she fell to her knees, instantly rubbing Reid's heaving back. His eyes appeared cloudy and they didn't appear to be focused on what was actually in front of him, he rasped out his breaths whilst Maeve soothed.

"Reid?" Came an anxious Blake, she hurried over and caused the others to look up from the suds in their beer bottles.

"'m fine", breathed Reid, taking a big gulp of fresh air and sighing, rubbing his face and holding his fingers over his eyes for a good few seconds. Maeve took his arm and tried to pull him up, but a set of dark and strong hands gently lifted Spencer back onto his feet.

"I uh...I think I'll stand away from the fire", Reid scratched the back of his neck and grimaced. Morgan, Alex and Maeve looked at him, worry etched into their features. The others had their heads turned to the scene, but seeing Spencer's cheeks blush in embarrassment, they picked their conversation back up to save the young agent from anymore unwanted attention.

"Think that'd be wise", Morgan smiled and ruffled Reid's hair to try and defuse the tension. Reid pinched the bridge of his nose as he shuffled back to the others. _4 years 9 months 3 days and 35 minutes since the fire. Why am I not over it,_ Reid reprimanded himself. The others smiled as he took a seat with them and breathed normally with relief.

"You alright?" Emily asked, placing a hand of his own trembling fingers.

"I'm fine, honestly", he replied, taking in a shaky breath and making a good attempt to smile. Luckily his son jumped into his arms and the suffocating worry and embarrassment seemed to lift from the group.

"Hey, George, having fun?" The small boy nodded and snuggled into Reid's lap, leaning heavily against his chest. Thumb in his mouth, the other wrapped around his stuffed giraffe. Maeve came and sat beside them and smiled at the sight of Georgy, struggling to keep his eyes open in Spencer's lap.

"Why don't you go have a sleep in one of Rossi's beds, you too Eva", Maeve said pulling her daughter onto her knee, but she squirmed with annoyance.

"No way! I'm not *yawn* tired! I'm playing with Henry and Jack", the other boys were still rushing around the garden, keeping back from the fire as they'd promised their parents they'd do.

"Alright", Maeve released Eva and she dashed off to the boys. She looked over at Georgy, who's eyelids were drooping. "Come on you", she said startling his eyes open. He shook his head tiredly and grabbed Spencer's arm, pulling it across him so that Maeve couldn't take him away. "What, you too?" She laughed, taking her drink and giving up on parenting.

Georgy was asleep in seconds, Spencer tightened his arm around Georgy to keep him warm. He stroked his sons soft, light brown curls.

"No more!" Savannah warned, as Morgan tried to open another bottle.

"Aw come on baby", he begged, holding the bottle hopefully.

"Nu uh, you put that back. You've had enough", Morgan huffed, but put the bottle back miserably. Hotch had to hold in a laugh, he was surprised that someone had managed to tame the lady killer: Derek Morgan.

"Hey you three, come over here," a tipsy Morgan called. The fire was beguinning to die, snapping at the grass as it slowly extinguished. The kids bounced over, all three looked tired, but refused to admit it.

"Let's tell some ghost stories", Morgan grinned, winking at Savannah.

"Awesome!" Squealed Eva, jumping onto Morgan, who settled her in his lap. She looked up expectantly, her big hazel eyes boreing into him.

Henry went to his mum looking scared. "I don't like ghost stories, mum," he whimpered nervously. JJ kissed his forehead and turned to Morgan.

"Keep it PG, Derek", she warned, tipping her head down to Henry.

"Okay, I have a pretty scary story about when we ran out of coffee. You won't believe what your dad did", Morgan teased making Eva bounce with excitement. Spencer's cheeks warmed as he remembered that dreaded day.

* * *

 **Sorry it's short and it's late.**

 **I've been babysitting and watching a criminal minds marathon that just so happened to be on right now. Thing is, the episodes that were showing were season 8 episode 10-14, so I've been crying a little when 'Zugzwang' came on. This got me through it.**

 **Thanks for reading, until next time...**


	23. Not Again

**(Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **Super quick update (literally wrote this in half an hour), just uploaded by newest story which will be taking up most of my time, so don't expect regular updates on this story.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Reid walked into work a little later than usual. He wasn't officially late, but he arrived at the same time as Morgan, who didn't hold the status of office early bird.

"Are you making a habit of this?" Chuckled Rossi from his office, as Reid hurried to his desk and pulled out his paperwork.

"Hold your horses", Garcia yelled from the conference room, "up here Junior-G-Man", Morgan's eyes followed Reid's to Penelope, who was dressed in a bright orange cardigan and heals and a blue floral dress.

"Case", sighed Morgan, leaving his bag on his desk and making his way to the conference room.

"So why are you two late?" JJ pried when the agents sat down, eliciting a groan from Morgan.

"Urgh, don't, I was up with Hank last night and I just couldn't get up this morning," JJ and Emily raised an eyebrow. "Seriously! Ask Savannah, she was up too, but she don't have to go to work this damn early." Rossi glanced at the clock.

"It's not early any more, Derek", the Italian smirked.

"Fine, I'll excuse you, I know what it's like. So, come on Spence, why weren't you up bright and early?" JJ turned to Reid who was smoothing down his hair.

"Oh I was, I was up at 6. Maeve didn't feel so good this morning so I took the kids in to breakfast club so she didn't have to. And we're not later, but statistically 19 percent of Americans, that's one in every 5, admitted to being late at least once a week, with millennials more frequently admitting it than over 55's. 22% of younger employees admitted to being late, compared to 15% of over 55's admitting it." Reid took a breath, ready to ramble again when he was interrupted.

"Is Maeve okay?" Alex asked. Reid smiled, realising that he'd been rambling again.

"Yea, she's alright, she was going to go to work, but I told her to stay home", he raised his eyebrows at their files. Garcia who had been listening suddenly burst into action.

"Oh right, new case, mystery gang!" She started flicking the images onto the TV.

* * *

Maeve heaved again, emptying what little she had in her stomach into the toilet bowl. She groaned and slid down the bath. Spencer had been at work for a while and she'd nipped out to the shop to get something, though her churning stomach had rebelled against it. She took a few deep breaths and flushed the toilet, sitting on the lid and wishing away the crushing nausea.

She pulled the bag containing her purchase closer and took out a box. She sighed and closed her eyes, her sickness settling like a bad smell. She opened her eyes and focused on the box in her hands. She tore it open and pulled out the single stick. Merton had been watching her from the doorway, his big belly brushing the ground and his tail wagging happily.

"Little privacy, Mert", Maeve said, shutting the door to. When she opened it again Merton took his chance and scampered in. Maeve was sat on the floor looking at the opposite wall, the stick on the floor beside her. The sausage dog took up residence in her lap and she grinned down at him. "It takes a minute", she whispered to the dog, who was none the wiser, but enjoyed his ears being caressed by soft fingers.

It felt like an eternity had gone by when Maeve finally picked the stick back up. She held the test in front of her but didn't look at it.

Slowly she let her eyes fall down. She closed her eyes and looked again. She suddenly jumped up from the floor, startling poor Merton from his snooze as she rushed to grab the plastic bag, which held several more test kits. She had to be sure.

Merton was about to leave the room to sulk, but he peered down at the test with curiosity.

There were two blue lines.

He had a good long stare, but got bored, having no idea what the fuss was all about. He plodded out the room as Maeve slammed the door behind him.

* * *

 **Okay, I know it's short, but there's a little bit of plot development.**

 **Hope you enjoyed. TTFN!**


	24. I'll Tell Him Tomorrow

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it characters)**

 **Calm down Tannerrose5, I'm not planning anything like that so don't worry. You'll just have to wait and see.**

 **Sorry I haven't updated for a few days, I've been busy with my new story. So here's a much needed update!**

* * *

 _You're going to have to tell him,_ Maeve thought to herself the next morning. Spencer was on a case and she'd taken a few days off sick. She put out the bowls and cereal boxes for her kids and she thought about how she'd tell Spencer that they'd have to buy another one of those bowls. Georgy's bowl had dinosaurs on it, whereas Eva's had a long sausage dog, who's body wrapped around the rim of the bowl like a snake, (they had both chosen their bowls.)

It had been almost 5 years since Georgy was born, she didn't know if she was ready for that again. _It won't be the same_ , she thought, _there isn't a psychopath after you this time._

It was early December. The kids had opened the 8th day on their advent calendars. 17 days till Christmas. She sighed, looking at the phone and debating with herself whether to call Spencer. Georgy rushed in with a big smile, she turned her back on the phone.

"Hey buddy! Good sleep?" She asked, picking her boy up and he sighed smothering him in a cuddle.

"Uh huh! Can I take my new superherwo to show my fwends?" He asked, giving his mummy the puppy dog eyes.

"Of course you can, but you've got to take care of him, try not to lose him, okay?" Georgy nodded, squirming form Maeve's arms and dashing off to grab his toy. Eva brushed by him on her way to the kitchen, she didn't look very happy, she dragged her feet over the the table and just looked at her bowl.

"What's wrong, honey?" Maeve asked, taking a seat and pouring her own cereal out. Eva looked up, but avoided her mums eyes.

"I'm not feeling well today, Mummy", she whispered, biting her lip nervously. Maeve frowned thoughtfully, and pressed her knuckles against her daughters forehead.

"You don't feel warm", Maeve looked at Eva seriously, Eva still didn't look into her eyes. "What's really wrong?" Maeve knelt by Eva, taking her hand.

"Nothing mummy, I just feel sick", she reached out for the lucky charms, but Maeve stopped her.

"If you're not very well you can't have those". Eva dropped the box, crestfallen, her eyes filling with tears.

"B..but", her lips trembled.

"You can have some if you're not sick, but you have to tell me why you don't want to go to school", Eva's eyes widened, realising she had been caught out in her lie.

"I really am sick, mummy", Eva begged, coughing audibly and gazing up hopefully to see if it worked.

"Well I don't think you're too sick to stay home, so go get your clothes on", Eva gasped at her mother's response and burst into tears, crying "please" through her sobs.

"I don't wanna go! Please!" Maeve held the girl in her arms, feeling her shoulder dampen with tears.

"Why?" She muttered softly. Eva pulled away, hicupping and breathing rapidly.

"They said I don't belong there. I don't wanna go back!"

"Who said that?" Maeve said sternly, holding Eva steady by her shoulders.

"Older girls I...in my class", Eva wailed, hanging her head and sniffling.

"Why would they say that?" Maeve asked gently, stroking Eva's messy curls. She mentally cursed herself for not sorting this out the previous day.

"I..I corrected them, they answered a question wrong about giraffes a..and I knew because Daddy told me when we went to the zoo", she rambled, the tears falling in big droplets from her hazel eyes.

Maeve sighed, remembering how Spencer had told her of his childhood bullying and that it was due to the fact he was smarter than the older kids. "How old were they?" Maeve frowned in concern.

"They were 8. Miss Wood let me sit in the big class to see if I liked it", Maeve pinched the bridge of her nose, she forgot the phone call a few weeks ago. Eva's teacher had called to ask about moving Eva up a grade, Maeve had agreed on a tester session; clearly it hadn't been successful.

"Would you rather go back to your old class, with your friends?" Maeve stopped stroking Eva's hair and the girl gaped at her.

"I can do that?" She asked in a small voice full of hope.

"Of course. If you would rather stay there that's fine."

"Won't you and Daddy be sad?" She whispered, puckering her lip out miserably.

"No. Daddy and I will always be proud of you! You don't have to stay in that class for us. I will tell your teacher and she will tell the big kids off", Maeve poured Eva a big bowl of lucky charms, Eva tucked in, but slowed after the first mouthful.

"Don't tell on them!" She suddenly bleeted, spraying cereal across the table.

"I need to Eva, it's not nice to pick on other people, especially if they're younger. You remember that, okay."

Georgy bounced back in with a action figure clutched in his hands.

"What's wong with Eva?" Asked the small boy, placing his toy on the table beside him and eying his sister anxiously as she wiped her eyes.

"I was just telling Eves that if people are mean to you, you should always tell a teacher", Georgy broke into a big smile then.

"I tell Gwace. She tells them off!" He giggled.

"Huh?" Eva looked up from her cereal.

"There was a big boy who was being mean to Asher and she told him to go away and leave us alone or she'd tell the teacher. No one messes with Gwace!" He announced proudly, digging into his own cereal. Eva considered this, maybe she could tell the big girls off like Grace did.

"It's lucky you've got Grace, but you should still tell a teacher if you see it happening", she stood up and returned to her cereal, deciding she'd taught her kids a valuable lesson.

* * *

"Hi, Miss Wood?" Maeve walked into Eva's class, the little girl's hand wrapped tightly around her own.

"Oh call me Abigail, you must be Dr Reid, Eva's told me a lot about you and the other Dr Reid", she laughed lightly, extending her palm. "What can I do for you?"

"Just Maeve is fine. I needed a chat about Eva and the classes she's attending."

* * *

Maeve left the class 15 minutes later feeling more assured. She checked her watch and rushed over to her car having only 10 minutes to get to work.

* * *

Spencer stared at the map, mumbling equations to himself and writing them across the whiteboard. The team walked in studying their files. Hotch glanced up to see the whiteboard full of equations and symbols which he didn't understand. The map was stuck next to Reid's scribbles and it was covered in string, pegs and markings. Reid paused his scribbles and stood back.

"What is it Kid?" Rossi questioned, sipping his coffee thoughtfully.

"Nothing, just run out of room", he muttered, flipping the board to access the other side. He started a whole new set of equations on this side and the team shook their heads in awe.

The only other time Spencer stopped was to check his phone after it chimed with a text. By this time the other side of the board had lost its shiny whiteness, which was replaced by black, red and blue marker.

 _I'm feeling better today, dropped the kids at school and I'm heading to work. See you tomorrow? ~ Maeve x_

Reid smiled and sent her a message back before returning to the board.

"What is all that?" The police chief asked, hands on his hip and a frown set deep in his brow.

"Calculations", mumbled Reid.

"And how's that going to help?" The chief grunted, rolling his eyes at the agent. Reid circled several equations before sticking the lids back on the pens and spinning the board back around to show the map.

"Well, I know where the Unsub is", Reid announced whipping around to the police chief his face deadly serious. He pointed at the map and circled a small apartment block. "We should go there now because he will kill the latest victim in approximately 3 hours 22 minutes."

The police chief stared at them blankly as the team pulled on their vests and left to catch their unsub.

Reid followed, flipping his phone back open.

 _Should be back later if all goes well ~ Spence x_

* * *

Maeve felt her phone ping in her pocket as she leaned over the toilet bowl. Luckily no-one was using the ladies restrooms when the wave of nausea hit her. She groaned and checked the text, which made her groan even more. _I can't tell him yet. Tomorrow. I'll tell him tomorrow._

She rested against the toilet door and touched her stomach absentmindedly, smiling. _This is gonna be fun,_ Maeve thought sarcastically to herself, almost laughing aloud.

* * *

 **Sorry, I know this chapter is short and boring, but I've been super busy the last few days. I will make it up to you guys soon, Promise!**

 **Till next time...**


	25. A Morning Full of Surprises

( **Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds or it's characters)**

 **Here's a nice little update, I just finished this and I must say it turned out differently to how I planned. I had a little brain wave and I allowed it to take control of my fingers and write this chapter. I hope you like it, please tell me what you think in the reviews.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Breakfast was a more sedate affair the next day. Eva's tears were replaced with giggles and Maeve's nausea was overcome by a blessing of energy, influencing her to wolf down 2 slices of peanut butter covered toast and a bowl of milky lucky charms. Georgy was also in a great mood, but the same could be said for him the previous day. The heightened moods could be blamed on the brunette sat, methodically sipping an unnecessarily large mug of coffee at the kitchen counter. Having arrived the night before, the kids were oblivious to his presence until they shuffled into the kitchen to have breakfast.

"Daddy!" Screamed Georgy, scuttling across the linoleum floor and leaping into Spencer's arms. It was lucky Spencer had just put down his precious mug to catch his son, who was of greater value to him.

"You're back early Daddy!" Cried Eva, nuzzling her way into her father's arms beside Georgy.

"Yep and guess who's taking you to school", Spencer teased, grunting with the effort of holding both his kids up.

"Who? Who? Who!?" Squealed Eva, followed by a whispered "who?" From Georgy.

"Me!" He yelled, worming his fingers into their sides and eliciting wicked giggles from them both.

"Awesome! Can you make us pancakes!?" Georgy begged, looking up at Spencer with his big tawny brown eyes.

"Sure buddy. What shapes d'you two want?" He asked, setting them both down on the floor and pulling open the cookery drawer. The kids followed him in, Georgy clutching onto Spencer's leg, impairing his movement more than his limp ever did.

"I want the heart, Daddy!" Eva informed, peering into the drawer and pulling out her desired shape.

"I want the happy face please!" Squeaked Georgy from his monkey latch on Spencer's trouser leg. Reid pulled out the smiley face and showed the small boy, who nodded giddily, taking it and wrapping his small arms tighter around his carriage.

Maeve watched them, stifling her laughter at Spencer's attempt to retrieve eggs, milk and flour, with a four year old gripping onto his leg, with no sigh of wanting to let go. She snuck a glance at her stomach and smiled. _Maybe we can do this after all_ , she thought. She never had the intention to get rid of the child growing inside her, she just doubted her ability as a mother to raise a third child. But as she watched her small family mess around the kitchen, she realised she had nothing to worry about. _I'll tell him tonight_ , she decided in her head, mentally making a _to do list._

"D'you want any Maeve? you can choose your shape too", chortled Reid, staggering across the floor with Gerogy still hanging from his leg, giggling wildly.

"Tempting, but I've already eaten and I need to get to work now," she planted a soft kiss on Spencer's cheek as he whipped up the pancake batter, and she lent down and smothered Georgy in kisses, which he tried to resist from, but hugging Spencer's leg and avoiding kisses proved difficult. Maeve also attacked Eva with the same kisses before leaving.

When Maeve got in the car her stomach churned. She paused in her seat, waiting for the onslaught of nausea, but when none came she sighed and put the key in the ignition.

* * *

"Do you really need that much chocolate on every pancake?" Jibbed Spencer, raising his eyebrows at the thick Nutella spread over each pancake heart. Eva looked over the giant tub of Nutella at Spencer's equally huge mug of coffee.

"And do you really need that much coffee, Daddy?" She asked, tilting her head and putting on her sweetest, most innocent voice as she licked the chocolate from her fingers.

"Touché", Reid grinned, taking a massive swig of his coffee and making his children laugh at his full cheeks.

"Can I try some?" Georgy mumbled. He was trying to pour maple syrup on his pancakes, but the bottle was full and he managed to leave a track from the table, to his plate and over his pancakes and then back over the other side of the table, like a snail leaves a trail.

"Uh uh, kiddo, this is an adult drink", Reid said, shaking his head, making a face and sticking his tongue out at his steamy beverage. This caused the boy to erupt into more laughter.

"And it's super gross!"

"And how would you know?" Reid turned to Eva and narrowed his eyes, smirking.

"I tried some of Uncle Hotch's, he said I could. It was really gross. You wouldn't like it Georgy, pink milk is sooooo much nicer", she stuck a fork full of pancake into her mouth, leaving her lips brown with chocolate.

"Oh okay. Uncle Dave likes adult drinks too. He doesn't drink coffee as much as this drink he has called... uh... what was it Eva?" Georgy stuck his tongue out, concentrating on squewering his pancake and glanced up at his sister for an answer. Eva smiled smugly.

"He likes scotch. I've tried some of that too, it tasted better than the coffee." Reid gazed at his daughter with his mouth hanging open. He was surprised that Hotch had let her try his coffee, but scotch! Rossi very rarely shared his scotch, and to a child, of all people. He was going to have to have a word with the Italian.

"Aw cool, I wanna try some!" Reid pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You know when you guys can have adult drinks? When your _adults!"_ The two kids pouted.

"No fair, Daddy! Eva got to try them both", Georgy stropped, folding his arms and jutting his bottom lip out further.

"That's only because your uncles are naughty. If they offer you their drinks again, say no," Reid warned, grabbing Eva's empty plates. "Oh and chocolate chops, go wash your face and get ready for school." Eva hopped from the table and stuck her tongue out at her younger brother, who attempted to do the same through his pout. "And you eat up, and next time how about I pour the syrup", Spencer sighed, mopping up the syrup trail.

"Fine", grumbled Georgy, stuffing the drowned pancake into his small mouth. Spencer's phone began to ring.

"Reid."

"Hey Pretty Boy, Hotch just rung me to say he wants us in in about an hour", Morgan deadpanned.

"What!? I thought we didn't have to come in till 11?" Groaned Reid, quickly filling the dishwasher and grabbing his messenger bag.

"Yea, we didn't, but there's quite a bit of paperwork after that last case", Reid could hear the guilt in Morgan's voice.

"Morgan, you did what you had to do and what you thought was right. He would've killed Jessica."

"I know, I know, but it's never a great feeling taking out someone so...so young", Reid nodded, though Morgan couldn't see.

"Right, well I've got to drop the kids off, but I'll come straight to the office after that, I shouldn't be late", Reid sighed, ready to hang up.

"Oh, don't rush, kid, I doubt I'll get there on time, so do me the favour and walk in later than me, stop making me look bad", Reid chuckled and ended the call, sending Georgy out to wash his sticky fingers and get ready for school.

He turned back to his coffee and chugged the last dregs from the depths of the cups, closing his eyes and sighing as the liquid berated his tngue, sending shock waves across his tongue.

He listened to the pitter patter of small feet on floorboards in the rooms down the hall. He smiled and absentmindedly stroked his leg. His fingers traced the scar encapsulating most of his lower leg. He felt the way the skin twisted and stretched, reminding him of his days locked in Savanah's house.

* * *

They were in the car 20 minutes later heading off for school. Reid checked his rearview mirror to find the kids in their respected seats chatting away.

"You haven't even started maths yet", insisted Eva.

"We have so! We have to count when we play hopscotch and we have to count to 10 for the teacher at the end of the day", Georgy cried indignantly.

"That's not proper maths. I already know my 1, 2, 3 and 5 times table", the older girl said proudly.

"You're older than me though! It's not fair!" He slammed his feet into Spencer's chair, making Reid turn around.

"Hey, you two stop arguing", he reprimanded, turning his eyes back on the road.

"But it's not fair Daddy! Eva gets to do loads of things that I don't!" Wailed Georgy, trying to ignore the faces his sister was pulling at him.

"She's older than you. When you get to her age you will be learning everything she's learning now", Spencer sighed.

"I hate being the youngest", snapped Georgy. Eva made another face at him which he couldn't ignore this time. "STOP IT!" He screamed, throwing spotty (his stuffed Giraffe), violently at his sister, the button eye catching her cheek. She sat still for a second, taking in what just happened. Reid heard the outburst and looked over, just as Eva burst into a fit of tears. Georgy suddenly looked extremely panicked and glanced nervously at his sister, hoping he hadn't hurt her.

"GEORGY!" Reid yelled, trying to reach his hand out and calm his crying daughter.

"I'm sorry Daddy, I...I didn't mean to. I promise, I didn't mean to hurt her", Georgy sniffed, his brown eyes full of terror and he too began balling. _Shit,_ Reid thought, shushing the children in an attempt to stop their crying. He turned his attention back on the road, hoping to pull over.

It happened too fast.

Spencer returned both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road. They instantly locked on the car speeding into their lane to overtake a lengthy lorry. The car homed two young men, the driver had sunglasses pulled over his eyes and both men held a boyish grin. If Reid had been focused on the road he could have put his foot on the braeaks sooner, or swerved out of the way sooner. But as it was, he hadn't been focused on the road. His eyes met the passenger in the overtaking car, who only just seemed to notice that they were in his lane.

Spencer tried to swerve, but the boy racers were travelling too fast. It was all too fast. Spencer slammed his foot on the breaks, the car ahead tried to do the same, yet both cars met, nose to nose, metal against metal. The vehiclescrashed into each other at awkward angles, jerking the passengers and sending Spencer's car out of control on the frozen road. Their car skidded before wrenching to one side. Spencer stole a look at his children as the car flipped. He thanked god that they still sat in the big car seats that protected their fragile skulls and tiny frames. Reid wasn't so lucky. He felt his own body slam into the door frame and the window smashed against his head.

* * *

The car rolled out into the road, slowing and remaining on its side, like a turtle struggling to get back on its feet. It steamed and huffed from exertion. Silence sliced through the morning traffic. Neighbouring vehicles (including the serpent lorry) had stopped and people were getting out and slamming their fingers over their phone keyboards; _911_.

The passenger in the other car crawled out. Their car was a flashy, expensive car, and compared to the wreckage of Reid's, it was practically unharmed. The blue paintwork was scratched and the drivers side was badly dented, the window also smashed, but it could be fixed. The driver drew open his eyes and cringed at the state of his car. He pulled himself out and grimaced even more, that was until his eyes caught the other car several metres down the road, lay on its side, completely obliterated.

"Shit," he hissed, jogging over to the other car.

"What the hell do you think you were doing!?" Bellowed an older man, who had been following Spencer. "You were overtaking whilst we were coming and I don't doubt you were over the speed limit", he grabbed the passengers arm, forcing him into submission.

The driver got to the other car. He glanced through the windows and swallowed thickly. Their were two car seats, one purple, the other green, each had a small child in them. The children strirred and the boy racer sighed in relief.

"Daddy? Eva?" Coughed a little voice.

"Georgy! Are you okay? Daddy?" Another voice bleated through.

"Hey kids, don't worry, I'm gonna get you out, ya hear?" Babbled the driver who caused this, his hands trembling badly.

"Daddy?" Cried the child in the green car seat. The driver looked over to the front of the car and saw a man, who appeared not much older than himself. His head was resting on the road, amongst broken, bloody glass. He wasn't stirring.

"Daddy?! Daddy, please wake up!"

* * *

 **That wasn't supposed to happen, I was writing them in the car and something hpjust came over me and so I went with it. It felt good to have some action.**

 **I'll see you soon with another update, Adios!**


	26. CRASH

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **I just published the last chapter, but I thought I'd get on top of things and publish a chapter of this and my new story tomorrow (which will be today for whoever reading this when I publish). I really liked the last chapter, it was pretty intense (and I like suspense and stuff like that). This chapter will go back and forth in time, so one part may be at the hospital, whereas the next might be back at the crash sight. It shouldn't be too confusing, I just wanted to show everyone's point of view.**

 **Oh and please leave a review, I never used to, but when you're an author you really appreciate it, so please make my day and also make me the happiest gal in the world!**

 **Okay I'll stop pestering, this is what you came for, Enjoy!**

* * *

Maeve got to her desk, sat down and waited a few minutes; no nausea! She grinned happily, praying she'd overcome morning sickness. _This must be some kind of record_ , she thought to herself, pulling out her work. She headed to the lab, waving and exchanging pleasantries with her co-workers. She glanced at the clock. _Kids should be at school soon,_ she kissed her teeth, thanking God that she didn't have to clean up after the chocolate and syrup monsters (as Garcia had dubbed them.)

She was getting on well with her work when her stomach churned. She smacked her lips together and swore she could taste a tinge of peanut butter on her tongue. Her eyes widened and she discreetly made her way to the ladies room, as not to attract attention. She almost missed the toilet as she fed it her hefty breakfast. _Maybe I haven't gotten over the morning sickness just yet,_ she groaned in her mind, as she heaved again, the smell of chunky peanut butter hitting her sensitive nostrils. As she lent over the toilet bowl she had a funny sense of deja vu, having been in this exact position the day before.

Once she was sure her breakfast had been re-served, she flushed it away and sat on the lid, her pale fingers shaking slightly.

"Just got to get this part out the way," she muttered breathlessly to herself. Maeve's cellphone buzzed between her and the toilet seat, causing her to jump up suddenly. She snapped it open, the ID unknown, sending a different, much more unpleasant deja vu through her mind.

"Uh, Dr Maeve Reid. Who's this?"

"Mrs Reid? We have you listed as your husband and your children's emergency contact." A quipped, to the point voice bombarded her ears.

"Yes, but why...oh God, what's happened?"

* * *

"Look, Hotch, I _actually_ have a reason for being late", Morgan insisted, raising his arms to the glare he received from his boss.

"Enlighten us," Rossi chuckled, leaning against the metal banister, rubbing his hands together and preparing for a show.

"Seriously. There was an accident on one of the roads, look 10 minutes to get around!" Morgan grumbled, slinging his bag on his desk and collapsing into his chair.

"Were they not clearing it?" Hotch frowned.

"From what I saw the victims were still in the vehicles. The one was a pretty slick set of wheels, pretty banged up, but fixable, the other car was completely totalled, musta' flipped, cus' it was on its side and there were loads of firemen and paramedics working around it."

"What happened?" Emily asked, clearly curious.

"From what I could see, it looked like the guys in the posh car tried to overtake a lorry, and in a car like that it's practically improssible not to break the speed limit, the other car must of just been in the wrong place at the wrong time." Morgan sighed, glancing at his pile of paper work.

"We have some idiots on our roads", muttered JJ.

"Fine, I'll let you off this time. Unless you've just made that elaborate story to hide the fact you slept in", Morgan snorted.

"I'm not that inventive", he admitted.

"Well Reid's in more trouble", tutted Rossi, motioning to the young agents empty desk.

"Ho Ho!" Chuckled Morgan. "When I asked him not to make me look bad by showing up early, he really went for it."

"Permission to slip him a few of my files?" Emily asked slyly, taking a big wad of her paperwork and shaking it in the air. Hotch thought for a minute.

"Permission granted", he deadpanned, returning to his office before the team could see his smile.

* * *

"Why's Daddy asleep?" Georgy asked the young man peering through the shattered glass.

"I think your dad's hurt, mate. Don't worry, we'll get you guys out". He promised, disappearing to call over the paramedics.

"I'm scared", cried Georgy. Eva turned her stiff neck to her brother, seeing his clear distress.

"So am I," she whispered, gulping. "But the nice man said he will help us", she tried to reassure, crossing her small fingers tightly.

"I want Daddy to wake up! I want mummy!" Screamed Georgy. Eva stretched her dusty arm to Georgy, and took his small hand in hers.

"It's okay", she sniffed.

"I want Mummy and Daddy!" Georgy continued to yell.

"Hey sweeties, are you guys alright?" A gentle voice hummed through the broken window. Georgy looked up to find a kind, feminine face smiling at him from his door. "Do you have any owies?" She asked.

"I want my Mummy! Please wake Daddy up!" Pleaded the little boy, ignoring the paramedics questions.

"It's okay sweetheart, we'll get you two and your daddy out, okay. Now tell me if you hurt anywhere."

Gerogy hiccuped, but quietened. He pointed to his knee and then his cheek. Along his face there was a shallow gash where glass had penetrated as it crunched against the rough road. His knee had collided with the seat in front, leaving a smarting bruise, but nothing too serious.

"What about you honey?" The medic called to Eva. Eva was trembling badly, going into shock. Her shivering fingers grasped her arm. "Your arm is it?" Eva nodded, not saying a word. Her eyes had found her fathers unconscious form and the deep crimson liquid that was pooling over his seat.

A nasty squeal and crunch tore her eyes from her father. And glanced up and saw some people she didn't recognise in high-vis jackets, wrenching open Georgy's door.

"What are your names?" The loving medic asked.

"G..Georgy and m..my .sister's called Eva. Daddy is c...callled S...Spencer." Relayed the 4 year old through miserable sobs.

"Okay, Georgy, were gonna get you out first okay, then Eva and then we can help your Daddy okay?" The two children nodded bravely. The nurse closed her eyes for a second, _these kids are too young to be dealing with this_ , she thought.

* * *

Maeve rushed through the hospital door, pushing her way to the reception.

"Please, my kids, they were just in an accident", she panted, swallowing thickly and wetting her dry throat.

"Are you Mrs Reid?" Asked the receptionist politely, Maeve didn't even correct her with 'Dr'.

"Yes, Yes! That's me, my children," she swallowed, pulling out her purse and revealing a small image of her family, "Eva and Georgy. Are they here? can I see them? Is my husband here?" The receptionist appeared flustered by the sudden onslaught of questions.

"I can call the doctor down and he can take you to your kids", she said, smiling sweetly.

"And my husband? Is he alright?" Badgered Maeve, clutching her purse tightly and leaning over the desk.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I don't have any information on a Mr Reid as of yet", she muttered, offering Maeve a grimace. She dialled the phone and began chattering into it. Maeve tapped her fingers insatiably over the desk, trying to quiet her need for information.

"Doctor's on his way. He said your children are okay and that they've been asking for you", Maeve breathed a sigh of relief. 2/3 family memebers were alright. But soon her relief was exchanged for anxiety over her husbands current condition.

"Mrs Reid?" Maeve swivelled around to find a burly doctor, stood, clipboard in hand and glasses sitting on the end of his nose, threatening to jump off. Maeve nodded at him and he simpered, gesturing for her to follow him. "I hoped it was. We assume the children are okay, but we haven't been able to calm them for a proper examination. I think we need your help with that." He pulled open a curtain and revealed two small children sat beside each other on a hospital bed, crying their hearts out. Eva had pulled Georgy into her chest and he had his little arms wrapped around her, crying "mummy" and "daddy" into his sisters dress. Eva's face was stained with tears and grime from the car accident. The tears were still running, but rather than screaming out for her parents, she was rocketing her and Georgy gently.

* * *

Hotch was getting more annoyed as the clock ticked slowly away. Having a kid of his own he understood the stress of a school run, but the kids would've been at school for at least an hour and Hotch knew that Eva and Georgy were enrolled in breakfast club that started at 8, an hour earlier than school.

Alex, on the other hand, was worried, last time Reid was this late he was kidnapped. She tried to push this thought out of her mind, but as the clock ticked it became more present in her mind.

"This proves he's human", Emily said.

"Huh?" Mumbled Morgan, who had been trying to slide some of his files into Reid's pile.

"Reid. He's getting more and more lifelike", she laughed. Hotch walked down into the bullpen, his frown etched in place. The rest of the team eyed him warily and pretended to be busy with work. Rossi marched down with a smirk and hopped into Reid's chair.

"This is the perfect opportunity for you to get payback, Morgan", Rossi hinted, winking at the younger agent, who's minds started whirring around revenge. Rossi drummed his fingers on the desk, "I doubt he'll be much longer, so you might want to get on with it." The team shook their heads, but smiled all the same.

Hotch's phone started buzzing.

"That'll be pretty boys excuse", chuckled Morgan, rifling through his drawers for equipment to set up his prank. Hotch's face remained stony.

"Hotchner."

"A...Aaron, s..some...something's happened." Hotch's eyebrows dipped at the anxiety in Maeve's voice.

"Maeve? What's wrong?" He asked calmly as not to startle his team.

"I..is the team there? C...can you put m..me on speaker, they need to hear this", Hotch complied and placed his phone down on Morgan's desk.

"What's going on?" Morgan hissed, dropping his equipment and pulling his chair close to the phone.

"You're on speaker Maeve. What's wrong?" The other team members moved closer, their eyes narrowed in confusion.

Maeve's trembling voice cut through the silence like a knife. "I..I don't know what's happening! I don't know where he is! No..no one is telling me anythin..."

"Woah, woah, slow down, what's happened?" Rossi interrupted, a sudden feeling of dread filling him.

"Sp...Spencer, in an accident, the kids..." she spluttered, which made all the agents jump from their seats in a flight of panic.

"Are they okay?" JJ fretted, followed by gasps and the other team members muttering in shock.

"The k..kids are here with me, Spence...I don't know...I asked, but no-one knows," howled the broken voice on the other end of the cellphone.

"We'll come now, just te..."

"Wait did you say accident? Maeve, what sort of accident?" Morgan quippped, gaining himself another glare from Hotch for interrupting.

"The car. They were in the car, the kids. They said it flipped." Her breath became quicker and more panicked. Morgan lept across his desk and grabbed his keys.

"How couldn't I recognise his car!?" Morgan snarled at himself.

"Were leaving now Maeve, sit tight", Hotch said, hanging up on the increasingly distraught woman. "What are you talking about?", Hotch grunted, following Morgan out of the office, the rest of his team in pursuit.

"The accident this morning! It was Reid's car." Emily glanced at Rossi who had gone very pale.

"Where are you going?" Hotch jogged to keep up with the dark skinned agent.

"I'm going to the scene."

"What scene?" Garcia's cheerful voice was filled with puzzlement, as the hobbled on her heels around the corner. "We don't have a case al... wait, where are you guys going?" She gazed around at her frantic team, not noticing the abcense of their youngest

"You're coming with us, we'll explain on the way", babbled Alex, slamming the button to call an elevator.

"I'm going with you Morgan. The rest of you go to the hospital." Hotch ordered, which made Garcia almost choke on her own breath.

"Wha'! What's happened? Wait, where's my junior-G-man?"

* * *

Spencer felt himself floating. It was a peculiar sensation, his head felt as if it were packed with Cotten wool, muffling all his senses, leaving him in a bliss of unconsciousness. That was until sound grew louder and less muffled in his ears and demanded him to return to the land of the living. The clouds over his mind cleared and he began to remember.

Car.

Kids. Kids Crying.

Taking his eyes off the road.

Crash.

His mind was still jumbled, he knew he had to be somewhere, work? He had to be late by now, Hotch would kill him. He heard voices, which only confused his mind more. He didn't recognise the voices. _Who was I with?_ He smiled remembering his kids in the back seat, arguing over simple things. The memory was suddenly tainted by images of them being flung around as their car rolled and the sound of screams berating his ears. _Car_? _Car!_ His eyes snapped open too suddenly, sending a splitting ache across his skull.

There were those voices again.

"Can you hear me sir?" Came a muffled voice though his thumping headache. "We're gonna get you out, okay, just hold on a little longer."

The blindness wore off and his eyes focused on the road. He frowned, feeling sure that he had been in the car. His eyes found broken glass, laced with blood. He tried to shift his body, but every part of him rebelled against the movement. He closed his eyes against the agony.

"Sir, you need to keep your eyes open. What's your name?" Spencer opened his tired eyes and allowed them to explore his current situation. He saw the steering wheel, _so I am in the car,_ he thought. Then his eyes travelled further down to the dashboard and he grimaced. The plastic dashboard was soaked even blacker with blood and his legs were held securely in place by it. He shifted his knee, which he learnt to be a big mistake when he saw the torn flesh and the jagged plastic sunk deeper into his wounds. Nausea washed over him and he squeezed his eyes shut against it. _What's your name?_ Spencer's mind mockingly repeated what the voice had said, pulling him out of his exploration.

"Sp...s...sp...p...pencer", he managed to stutter out as he gritted his teeth in an attempt to handle the pain.

"Okay Spencer, we're g..."

"M..my..my kids", Spencer stuttered, struggling to turn his head to see the voice.

"They're fine. They're waiting for you at the hospital", Reid sighed and felt himself drifting off again.

"No, come on Spencer. You need to stay awake. We will get you to a hospital soon", Spencer tried to keep his eyes open, but for once the darkness seemed comforting to him, especially compared to the pain that light was currently bringing him. The sound of crunching metal kept him from sleep; the car felt as if it were pulsating and moving on its own accord.

"How longs it gonna take to get these doors off?" Yelled a paramedic.

"We're going to have to remove the front windscreen, this is taking too long", shouted another.

"We're almost there Spencer, hold on", by this point Spencer was already wandering the land of unconsciousness.

* * *

Morgan was accompanied by Hotch, Rossi and Alex as he high tailed it to the scene which he had been stuck behind only half an hour earlier.

"You sure it was Spencer's car? They might have been in anot..."

"I'm sure, Alex", Morgan jibbed, keeping his eyes on the road and his foot firmly on the accelerator.

* * *

"Where's Daddy?" Sobbed Georgy as Maeve rocked him reassuringly.

"He's on his way, baby."

"Promise?" Whispered Eva, her eyes watching the floor.

"Promise." A nurse walked in and smiled sympathetically at the three of them.

"You must be mom. I needed to get your permission for an x-ray, the doctor is certain that Eva has broken her arm", Maeve looked down at her little girl, her mouth agape. She had no idea her child had been sat with a broken bone. She'd been so quiet and uncomplaining.

"Y..yes, that's fine. Can I come with her?"

"You'll have to wait in another room while we take it, but you can still talk to her." Maeve nodded and rubbed Eva's back soothingly.

* * *

"Is that all you know!? Are they okay?" Garcia gasped, having just forced JJ to divulge everything she knew.

"The kids sound okay, but Maeve wasn't told anything about Spence. Oh and it gets worse"

"How the hell could this get worse!" Croaked Garcia.

Emily sighed, realising she'd have to speak sooner or later. "Morgan was late when he got in. He said there was an accident, and that a car had flipped over."

"What, and he thinks that it was Reid?"

"He realised that it was Spencer's car, b..but it was smashed up, so he can't be sure. It..it may not be him", stuttered JJ, looking at the two other women for support to stimulate her dying hope.

* * *

Morgan spotted the crumpled wreck of the car and slammed his first into the steering wheel. It _was_ Spencer's. Morgan dove his foot into the breaks and yanked open his door.

The others copied his actions.

There were several teams of people around the steaming mound of metal. Hotch could make out the crimson streaked across the broken glass and the windscreen and he could even see the way it slowly pooled from the drivers side.

"Stand back please", an officer demanded.

"Were with the FBI. That's one of our agents in there", Rossi stated, pointing to the car.

"Oh, well, it's not looking too good. Your 'agent', is completely pinned down in there. It's gonna take at least 20 more minutes to cut him out of there" the agents glanced nervously at each other and stepped past the officer.

They inched ever closer to the car when suddenly a scream split through the air, silencing the entire scene. Rossi, Morgan, Alex and Hotch started sprinting, the scream having belonged to their resident genius.

* * *

 **My god! I had a splitting headache writing the last part of this. So I had a new idea opfor a story and I'm really excited about it, but I will have to finish my other story first, and take a break from this one, but don't worry, I won't do that for at least another week.**

 **I was also supposed to publish another chapter for my new story, biput this headache is a killer and I can't keep my eyes open. Damn it!**

 **Please leave a review, it'd make me super happy. See ya soon!**


	27. Drugged

**(Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds or it's characters)**

 **Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter. I'm not entirely sure what's gonna happen now, so I'm just going to start writing and see where it leads me.**

 **Okay so here goes...**

* * *

"Shhh, Georgy, stop crying, please"," Maeve pleaded with the small boy sat in her lap. He continued to shake though he did manage to exchange the sobs for hicubs and sniffling. She stroked his hair, detangling parts that Reid hadn't brushed out that morning.

Eva was behind the window, having her arm x-rayed. She was still trembling, but her tears had long since ceased. It took a matter of minutes and the nurse held up an x-ray in front of them.

"The ulna is fractured. It's a pretty clean fracture, so we will put a cast on it to keep it in place whilst it heal." Maeve nodded, fingering Eva's curls.

"When can we do that?" Whispered Maeve.

"We can get that done now and give you the pain medication", she smiled sympathetically, holding the door open. "Just follow me, it shouldn't take longer than half an hour", Maeve nodded again.

She pushed the kids out of the room and followed the nurse, until her eyes caught some familiar faces. Garcia was taking a seat in the waiting room, while JJ and Emily were looking around; confused and anxious. Georgy saw them too, and rushed away from his mother.

Garcia heard the pitter patter of small feet defending on her and she glanced up to see Georgy running over to her, his face flowing with tears.

"P...Pene!" He sobbed into her shoulder and she pulled him into her lap, embracing him tightly, feeling her own tears falling.

"Oh, Honey, you had us so worried", she mumbled, taking a deep breath sniff of his hair, which smelled oddly like syrup. JJ and Emily looked on in relief as Maeve joined them. Before they could exchange anymore words, JJ wrapped her arms around Maeve. Maeve's sighed into her shoulder, and hiccuped a sob back.

"Thank god you guys are okay", Emily simpered, hugging Maeve after JJ had let go.

JJ bent down and embraced Eva who hissed in pain. JJ released her, worried she'd hurt her. The young girl was filthy, black marks peppering her yellow dress and pale skin. Her arm appeared swollen and there were small cuts across her face and legs, but that was all.

"Sorry sweetie, have you got an owie", Eva nodded and motioned to her arm. JJ frowned, it wasn't like Eva to be quiet; ever.

"She's f..fractured her arm", stuttered Maeve, wiping away her fresh tears. "We...uh we're just about to get a...a cast". The nurse was waiting patiently behind them, an understanding smile across her lips.

"Oh, well you go and we can look after Georgy for you", Garcia suggested. Maeve shifted uncomfortably. She didn't want to let either of her children out of her sight. "We _will_ look after him I promise, I'm pretty sure there's a vending machine calling our names right now", Georgy gazed at his aunt, his mouth hanging open and his tears were suddenly put on hold.

"Okay, we'll be back soon. Keep asking about Spencer", Maeve muttered, taking Eva's uninjured hand and following the nurse.

* * *

"Sir, you can't come any further", a fireman was struggling to keep the agents back from the scene.

"Our agent is in there! He's been there for at least an hour now, what the hell are you doing?!", Morgan seethed, trying to push past again.

"We are trying our best, sir, the dashboard is pinning him in place and if we try to move it too soon he _will_ bleed out", explained the paramedic who came over to calm the situation.

"You're clearly not trying hard enough", snapped Derek. Hotch pulled the younger agent back.

"Can't you give him something for the pain?" Questioned Hocth, his brow lowered in his usual scowl.

"We would, but when he was conscious he begged for no narcotics", Hotch closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Is he conscious now?" A loud grown from the wreck answered him.

"Barely", confirmed the paramedic.

"Well I don't think he's in the right frame of mind to make that decision", Hotch insisted. Morgan stared at his boss, dread filling the pit of his stomach when he realised what Hotch was trying to do.

"Well not really, but we have to respect his wishes", another whimper reached their ears and .Hotch made up his mind.

"I'm his emergency contact, so I can make decisions for him when he's unable to make them himself." The paramedic nodded along with him, understanding where this was going and actually agreeing. Hotch wasn't exactly lying, he _was_ still Reid's emergency contact, but officially Maeve was his 1st and then Hotch.

"And I take it you want us to administer stronger pain relief. Typically I would need to make some calls to verify...but given the current situation", she exhaled and kissed her teeth.

"I'll give my permission for anything, just make sure he's not in anymore pain", Hotch implored. Morgan rubbed his temples, _Reid's not gonna like this,_ he thought.

* * *

"Can I really have something from the vending machine?" Gasped Georgy from his perch on Garcia's knee. Emily laughed and knelt beside him.

"You can have _anything_ you want"

"Really!?"

"Do you think we'd lie to you?" Emily chuckled, stoking Georgy's cheek.

"Awesome!"

"Hey you guys go ahead, I'm just going to ask if Spence has come in yet", JJ grimaced, heading off in the other direction.

"Has Spencer Reid been brought in yet?" She asked the busy receptionist, who looked up exasperated.

"Look sugar, like a told the black haired lady and Mrs Reid before her, I haven't been told anything about a Spencer Reid. When and if I do I'll be sure to send someone your way to update you", she turned back to her work before JJ could thank her. She sighed and wandered to the coffee machine, which just so happened to be beside the vending machine where Emily and Garcia were pointing out all the different treats to a bouncy little boy.

"Skittles! Skittles!" He cried. Emily and Penelope exchanged a look, remembering how Reid had said Georgy was banned from skittles after going berserk from a giant bag he had at his friends party. But Georgy lifted his little head and looked at them with big tawny eyes.

"Sure you can, honey bun!" Grinned Garcia.

* * *

"Hotch, what the hell man! Reid said no, you can't just go against his wishes, this is _his_ healthcare", stammered Morgan.

"I'm sorry, could you not hear the pain he was in. I stand by Hotch's decision", Alex challenged folding her arms. She was unfamiliar with Reid's past drug addiction. Rossi was acquainted with it, but Hotch and Morgan had seen it happen before their eyes. Morgan knew how Reid felt about drugs; he was terrified about getting addicted again.

"He has a family now Morgan. Last time he only had his mother and he couldn't turn to us. It won't happen again". Morgan just shook his head, narrowing his eyes.

"Well you can tell him", snapped Morgan. Hotch was about to argue again, when the voices ahead of them picked up and the sound of metal scraping against the ground filled the air.

"What's happening?" Rossi asked a passing fireman, who gave him a proud smile.

"They've managed to cut him from the car", he confirmed. They looked over and saw a body on the ground, a back board, neck brace and leg splints accompanying him.

Morgan managed to worm his way closer.

"Can I ride with him?" He asked one of the paramedics. Luckily this paramedic seemed to be in a good mood from their recent success.

"I don't see why not, but you can't get in the way." Morgan nodded happily and followed the stretcher to the ambulance, glancing back at the others who were already jogging back to the SUV.

Reid felt the floaty feeling wear off, but he wasn't blinded by pain when he opened his eyes, in fact he felt great; he was numb. He screwed up his face and squinted at the artificial light in the ambulance.

"Hey kid", beamed Morgan, looking down at Spencer as he returned to consciousness.

"M'gan?" Quizzed Reid, screwing his eyes up even more.

"The one and only. How are you feeling kid?"

"Kids..." croaked Spencer.

"They're fine, they're with Maeve right now. Are you alright?" Spencer smiled with relief. Part of his mind was trying to tell him that he'd been drugged, but the majority of his brain didn't care.

"'M feel good", he sighed, drifting back off into dream land.

* * *

The girls all took their seats again, each had a steamy cup of coffee to ease their nerves. Georgy crawled into JJ's lap and (with difficulty, but insistence that he could do it on his own) tore open his bag of skittles, sending a few across the room and blushing at the girls. He then took one skittle at a time out, showing JJ the colour before eating it. His childish ways calmed them down immensely, and they sat back in their seats sipping the bland but blessed coffee.

"And so the wait begins", Emily sighed, interrupting Georgy's ramblings about what colour he was about to eat and earning herself a pout.

"Stick your tongue out George", cheered Penelope, Georgy followed her instruction and went cross eyed trying to see his tongue. He giggled loudly, setting off the girls when he saw his tongue was a purple shade.

"Look Emily!" He exulted, sticking his tongue out at the dark haired agent sat opposite them.

"I hope you aren't sticking your tongue out at me", prattled a wise voice from the corridor. They all looked up to see Rossi stood, with a smile (albeit forced) on his face, watching them play around.

"Uncle Dave!" Georgy crowed, hopping from JJ's lap, handing her his packet of skittles and scuttling over to Rossi, where he received a warm hug. Georgy opened his eyes to find Hotch, Morgan and Alex behind Rossi.

"Hey buddy", Morgan hummed.

"Emily got me skittles!" He announced, bouncing over to JJ and holding up the bag he'd been given.

The rest of the BAU observed the young boy. He was covered in dirt and grime, his hair partly hardened from blood and sweat. There was a small butterfly stitch over his cheek and a small line where glass had penetrated. His knee was bruised, but from the way he ran from them and back, it clearly wasn't hindering him.

Penelope got up and bit her lip anxiously.

"Did you see Reid? Is he okay?"

"Morgan was with him in the ambulance" Hotch said and Garcia turned on Morgan.

"He was in and out of consciousness. I wasn't really focused on his injuries, but his legs were trapped under the dashboard and they looked pretty bloody. The one was in a splint. But the paramedics weren't too worried, so I think he'll be alright", Morgan relayed, taking a seat next to Garcia and only noticing then the blood that covered his hands and shirt.

"I'll only make that assumption when I see him" muttered Penelope, plopping back down in her seat.

"I'm going to get some coffee", Rossi twirled on his heal.

"Grab Maeve one, she should be back soon", called Garcia, Rossi gave her a thumbs up behind his back.

* * *

"Spencer can you hear me?" Reid squinted against yet another artificial light and groaned.

"I'll take that as a yes. We're going to have to sedate you in order to reset your leg, okay?" Spencer mumbled something incoherent and the doctor took it as his understanding.

"Don't worry, your family is outside and you'll be able to see them as soon as we're done", Reid closed his eyes tiredly and smiled. He felt a needle in his arm and yet another mask over his face and suddenly he was whisked off into yet another painless bliss.

* * *

"Maeve, you haven't touched your coffee", frowned Alex.

"Huh, oh sorry, I'm just...not really in the mood right now", mumbled Maeve, looking sadly at her coffee. JJ narrowed her eyes, a sudden thought hitting her.

"I'm just going to get something from the vending machine, anyone want anything?" She asked getting up slowly. Everyone shook their heads motioning to their coffees.

"You wanna pick something Eves?" JJ knelt down in front of Eva, who had a neon pink cast over her left arm. She shook her head and moved closer to Maeve. JJ sighed, Eva was acting very un-Eva like.

JJ returned 2 minutes later with a bag of chips. She look a seat next to Maeve, and noticed that the coffee still hadn't been touched. She popped open her bag of chips and the smell wafted into Maeve's nose. Maeve froze and took a quick glance of the flavour JJ had gotten. _Cheese and onion,_ her stomach flipped.

"I'm..uh..I'm just going to the toilet", she announced, trotting off down the corridor. JJ smiled confirming her suspicions.

Some of the others noticed this odd behavior, but shrugged it off. Rossi however met JJ's eyes and they both grinned childishly at their discovery. Rossi reached into his jacket pocket pulling out a flask filled with his favourite whiskey no doubt.

Maeve came back a few minutes later, looking paler. She sat down and Rossi took a swig from his flask and then offered it to her.

"Take the edge off", he winked, shimmying the contents at her. Maeve wanted to accept it and almost reached out, but remembered her situation and she sub consciously placed a hand over her stomach and waved the flask away.

"I knew it!" Squealed JJ. They all turned to her, confused, bar Rossi he was also smirking.

"Knew what?" Maeve mumbled.

"You, you're... are you gonna tell us?" Maeve raised her eyebrows, realising JJ had found out about her pregnancy.

"How...?"

JJ jiggled the chips around. "I don't even like this flavour, but you told me it had been one of your triggers with Eva and Georgy."

"Wait, you're..." Garcia started, her arms flapping wildly. Maeve broke into a small smile.

"Yes. I'm pregnant", she admitted, blushing slightly.

* * *

Spencer was floating (yet again!) peacefully. His dreams were morphing into impossibilities, none of which distressed him. One minute he was in the garden playing with Georgy and Eva, the next they were all on the beach, him and Maeve sharing an ice cream with over 12 scoops. At one point Garcia had emerged from the sea and Hotch appeared out of nowhere. As for the rest of his family they arrived via jet, which parked along the beach front. Then everyone else on the beach disappeared and the beach was no longer a beach, but a park. Spencer smiled to himself, allowing his strange dream to evolve.

* * *

"I haven't know for that long, Penelope!" Laughed Maeve.

"You two and your secrets", she groaned.

"Actually Spencer doesn't know", whispered Maeve. She felt her eyes well, _what if I never get to tell him._ The team all exchanged shocked looks and then locked them back on Maeve. Morgan went over to her and lifted Eva from the chair, sitting her in his lap and wrapping his arm around Maeve.

"And you can tell him whenever he decides to grace us with his presence", Maeve laughed through her tears, wiping them away hurriedly. Before Morgan could move, Eva had laid her head on him and fallen off to sleep.

* * *

"Family of Spencer Reid?"

Hotch and Maeve practically flopped from their seats. Morgan jumped up startling Eva awake. Georgy (who was on a sugar high) did 2 laps of the seats before joining Maeve.

"I'm his wife and this _is_ his family."

"Okay, well, he's not long come out of surgery to repair an open break in his lower leg. We've put pins in to reset the bone. He has other deep lacerations on his legs from where they were pinned, several broken ribs and a broken thumb and finger. Other than that he's okay, but we have him in a private room to keep an eye on a head injury he sustained. He should make a full recovery. You can all visit him, but I warn you he's still a bit...loopy from the drugs, so he won't be acting himself."

"He's awake?" Gasped Alex, relieved.

"Yes, and he's been asking the nurses so many questions. They'll be happy for a break", he chuckled. We have him on a strong dose of morphine right now, so he should be comfortable", Maeve grimaced and glanced at Hotch, who had already explained his decision.

They all followed the doctor to the room.

"It might not be wise to take the children in. Like I said he's...basically off his face right now. I wouldn't want him to upset them".

"I'll wait out here with them", offered Alex.

"You sure?" Alex nodded at Maeve and sat a very glum pair of children on the seats outside.

"Spencer!" Maeve beamed, rushing to his side as soon as the door opened. Reid had been gazing at his fingers and was now squinting at Maeve with confusion.

"Who're you?" He frowned, studying Maeve's face comically. Maeve looked at the doctor, who smiled and wiggled his finger beside his head in a motion that said "crazy". Morgan laughed and sat on Reid's other side. Reid turned his attention on Morgan and raised his eyebrows.

"That's your wife", Morgan said, pretending to whisper it only to Reid. Reid's eyes widened, he glanced back at Maeve with the least bit of subtlety and whispered back to Morgan, (though it wasn't much of a whisper either.)

"Really?" the others laughed."She's super pretty", then he turned back to Maeve and practically shouted, "you're super pretty!" at her. He gave Morgan a thumbs up.

"How are you feeling kid?" Rossi chuckled. Reid took one look at Rossi and grinned, the sane part of his mind which wasn't quite as drugged managed to stop him from blurting out an Italian song.

"Oh I feel great. In fact I bet I could do a back flip right here right now", he began to pull himself out of bed, but Morgan held him back.

"You can show us when you get outta here." Reid groaned, but stayed in bed.

"You may feel fine, but you look like you've been hit by a bus", chided Garcia, stroking his hair and eliciting a wide smile.

"Really? I swear I brushed my hair this morning!" He went to touch his hair with his plastered hand, and got distracted by them. "Huh, fingers are the strangest things". He mumbled.

"That doctor wasn't joking", snorted Emily.

"Aw, I love jokes! What was the joke?"

"Uh, never mind, Spence" giggled JJ. Spencer narrowed his eyes as if they were keeping something from him.

"Did you know a slug has 4 noses?" He announced randomly.

"Why would we know that?", questioned Garcia.

"Woah! Garcia, you've got something in your ears!" Gasped Reid, pushing his head forward to get a better view.

"You mean my earrings"

"Doesn't that hurt? You've got holes in your ears!" Spencer looked extremely worried for her.

"No I'm fine Spe..."

"What's this?" He said lifting his hand with the IV.

"That's to stop the pain", soothed Maeve, trailing a finger down Spencer's face, careful not to knock the cannula from his nose.

"You drugged me?" He asked, he didn't sound angry or even shocked, in fact he sounded more curious than anything else.

Hotch rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhh". Luckily Reid moved on before Hotch could answer.

"Why does my tongue feel like a jellyfish?"

"And when have you ever eaten a jellyfish?", Morgan had to wipe tears of laughter from his eyes.

"You've eaten jellyfish!?" Reid marvelled. Morgan smacked his face.

"Seriously, my tongue feels like jell-o, I'm pretty sure I can swallow it"

"Don't!" They all yelled in unison, making Reid jump up.

"Don't what?" He yelped, then almost a second later he asked. "What happened to my leg?"

"You were in an accident", Hotch broke in, before Reid could change the subject.

"Oh, sorry."

"For what?" Hotch frowned.

"I didn't mean to. It was an accident."

"It wasn't your fault, Reid"

"Oh, right" he thought for a minute. "Oh no! I forgot Spotty! He's in the car"

"Who's Spotty?" Morgan wondered.

"It's Georgy's stuffed giraffe", explained Maeve.

"Can you get him, he's in the car somewhere. Oh where are the kids? Did they go on holiday without us again?"

"Holiday? Spence what are you on about", laughed JJ, and Reid pouted at her.

"Oh, you know kids, always swanning off on holiday. Morgan did you kick my door down?" Reid pointed to the door.

"I can see why you annoyed the nurses", sighed Morgan.

"Who me?" Reid said innocently.

"Maeve", Alex's head popped around the door. "They really want to see him", Maeve waved them in. Eva suddenly became herself when she saw her father and Georgy was already bouncing on the side of the bed, his sugar high not wearing off anytime soon.

"How was your holiday?" Spencer inquired.

"We didn't go on holiday, silly daddy!" Chittered Georgy, pulling himself up beside Reid.

"Careful Georgy, daddy is hurt."

"Who's daddy? Is he okay?" Reid bleated worriedly.

"You are!" Exclaimed Eva, managing to get on the bed with him too.

"He's a little whacky from the medicine they gave him", Penelope chimed in.

"Yea, he drugged me!" Spencer sent an accusing finger at Hotch, _ah so he does remember._

* * *

 **OH MY HOLY HELL! So I just went to upload this and guess what, the last 2000 words didn't save! I had a bloody heart attack, I thought I'd have to write it all again. Luckily, I found it under recently completed thing, life saver!**

 **Phew! My fingers hurt. I was much more organised today, I actually got my chapter for my other story done super early and so I had all night to work on this. I think this is record timing for me.**

 **Okay, so I hope you enjoyed that. I will update as soon as I can, if you want alerts for when I update, feel free to follow this story.**

 **Please leave a review, the ones yesterday were so lovely, THANK YOU! They just make me want to write more, and they make me feel so good about my current stories.**

 **Also Spencer will find out about the pregnancy in the next chapter, before anyone asks.**

 **Until we meet again!**


	28. Pity Kisses

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **Hola Amigos! I was looking at my story stats (and this story is now a month old! how awesome, its my only ongoing one (apart from bot who cried wolf, but that one will be ending shortly. I don't know when (or if) I'll end this story, I love the fluffiness too much.**

 **So here's another chapter for y'all, I was well prepared, I started writing this chapter as soon as i published the one before it. No more tardiness!**

 **Okay, Okay, Okay, I'll shut up and get on with the story.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Garcia had insisted on taking the kids to hers that night, and to ease Maeve's worried mind, Emily had volunteered to supervise the slumber party.

Spencer had continued to talk crazily for another hour, in that time he told Morgan _"I'm you're worst nightmare"_ and that he could take him in a fight, and also he started to recite pie, falling asleep at the 942nd digit mark. He slept the rest of the day, dashing any hope of Maeve revealing her pregnancy.

Emily woke to an invasion of her couch.

"Come on auntie Emily!" Giggled Georgy, smacking the dark haired agents shoulder, jolting her from dream land .

"Yea sleepy bones, we wanna watch cartoons!" Whined Eva, a big grin smacked across her lips.

"I'm up, I'm up! Jeez, I'm glad I don't have kids", Emily groaned, rising groggily from the couch, her hair sticking up on one side, the rest hung greasily around her face. Georgy and Eva squeezed up on the couch next to Emily, Eva brandishing the remote and flicking through the channels landing on one that filled the TV screen with vivid colours.

"You need a shower auntie Em", Eva said, not looking up from her cartoons.

"Why thank you. And I would've had one, but two monkeys hogged the bath last night". Emily sighed, leaning back on the couch and stretching out her limbs after an uncomfortable night.

"But we were all dirty. You're not dirty aunt Em" simpered Georgy, giving Emily his adorable puppy eyes.

"I know squirt. You just watch your cartoons and I'll have a shower"

"She is dirty", Eva whispered in Georgy's ear. "And she smells", she held her nose and stuck out her tongue, eliciting laughter from the little boy.

"What was that?" Emily smirked, turning her head sharply and making Eva hide her face behind a pillow.

"She said you smell!" Georgy blerted out between giggles. Eva whacked him with a pillow and (after seeing Emily's face change to one of a lion stalking its prey), she wriggled off the couch and dashed off to Penelope's bedroom for protection.

"Oh no you don't!" Called Emily, grabbing the little girl, (mindful of her neon pink cast) as she whooshed past and tickling her sides until she begged for mercy.

"Are you upsetting my Goddaughter?" Garcia came out of the bedroom, decorated in a set of bright purple pyjamas. Emily raised her arms in surrender, releasing Eva, who darted behind Penelope's legs, wrapped her bright pink arm around Garcia's brilliant purple pant leg and sent her tongue Emily's way.

"She's not so innocent you know!" Clucked Emily, sticking her tongue in retaliation to Eva's.

"What this little angel? Of course she is!" Garcia praised, stroking Eva's long curls; Eva gave Emily her most innocent look and Emily snorted.

"Oh this isn't over small one", she muttered, eyes narrowed as she headed to the bathroom.

* * *

"Okay, what do you guys want for breakfast?" Garcia sang, pulling out cereal boxes. Emily took a seat, sipping her coffee. Eva and Gerogy exchanged a look and turned back to Penelope, huge grins plastering their faces.

"Pancakes!" They yelled in unison. Garcia froze and grimaced.

"Hey, look, I've got some cool cereals! Wouldn't you guys prefer that?" She practically pleaded. Georgy stifled a laugh behind his short little fingers.

"No way! Pancakes are way yummier!" He insisted licking his lips. Garcia groaned.

"I'm not making you guys pancakes right now", she said, so fast that Emily barely caught it, but from the disappointed looks the kids sent her way, she knew they had.

"B..but Daddy a..always makes us pancakes", sniffed Eva. Garcia's eyes went wide.

"Pancakes it is then!" She cried before the kids could shed tears. Emily sighed.

"Push over", she mumbled as she walked by Penelope, who was cracking eggs.

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing" Emily grinned.

* * *

"Can you put that on the lowest..."

"Spence, you'll be in pain", jibbed Maeve pulling the morphine control button away from him.

"I didn't concede to this. It's a breach of my human rights. In fact statistics show that the body heals..." Spencer started, reaching out for the button which Maeve pulled further from his reach.

"Hey, I don't care about statistics. I'm your wife _and_ your emergency contact and I want you to have it", Reid grunted falling back on his pillows.

"This isn't fair!" He hissed.

"Life isn't fair", laughed Maeve, stroking his hair from his eyes.

"Let's make a break for it", he grinned up at her from his pillow.

"Oh god, are you still off your head on drugs? Look at you, you can barely move, let alone 'escape'", Spencer pouted and Maeve planted a kiss on his pout, which caused him to smile wildly. "That's only a pity kiss" she teased.

"Well I...I need a lot of pity right now".

"Spencer Reid!" She laughed, pushing his shoulder playfully. He winced and Maeve suddenly looked worried.

"Ow, I think I need another of your finest pity kisses please."

* * *

"What are you gonna say to mummy and daddy about Auntie Penelope's sleepover?" Rehearsed Garcia, as she guided the kids down the corridor, Georgy carrying a balloon and Eva holding a pot of jello.

"That it was super fun and you made us pancakes", they practiced in unison, Garcia smiled and patted them on the heads.

"Great. Don't forget to slip in something about going to bed early and brushing your teeth, oh and the bubble bath", the children nodded and rolled their eyes at each other when Penelope wasn't looking.

"Surprise!" All three of them shouted as they flung open the door. Spencer was awake and he smiled happily when he saw them, though he was very pale and littered in cuts and bruises.

"Hey guys! Were you good for Pene?" Croaked Reid. The two kids were gazing up at him from his bedside, standing on tippy toes to offer him their gifts. They looked at each other, preparing what they'd been told to say.

"It was super fun and aunt Pene made us pankcakes", they stumbled on the words as they tried to repeat what they'd rehearsed in a synchronised fashion. Maeve laughed and stroked their heads.

"You had pancakes yesterday", Reid said, raising his eyebrows. Garcia looked at the two kids in disbelief.

"Oh you sneaky devils!" She gasped.

Reid was already tearing open the lid of the pot to get to the rich red jello inside.

"This is so much better than the hospital food", he sighed through a mouthful. The kids scrambled onto the bed and managed to get a spoonful of the red glop each.

* * *

It didn't take long for the rest of the team to arrive, offer the well wishes and tease Spencer about his drugged state the previous night.

"I did not say _that!_ No way!" He shook his head, praying that he hadn't said half of what they were telling him.

"Oh yes you did, and I would've filmed it if they let me use my cellphone", moaned Morgan. A few "urghs" were heard at the missed opportunity. Spencer winced slightly and unfortunately for him, everyone noticed.

"I'm fine", he insisted, grimacing. Maeve rolled her eyes, motioning to the low level set on the morphine drip.

"Reid, we need to talk about what happened. We have lots of different stories which don't match up", Hotch folded his arms and looked at him with concern.

"It was our fault", called a small voice. They all turned their focus on Eva, who had been sat beside Spencer colouring in.

"No, it wasn't, honey, it..." Reid soothed, but Eva cut him off.

"We were crying and you were trying to make us stop. If we'd listened then you would've seen the other car", she whispered, with guilt and shame etched in the expression she held.

"No, you didn't do anything, that car was on your side of the road. It's their fault not yours", frowned Maeve, pulling her fingers through the mess of Georgy's head as he dozed in her arms.

"I..I should've been watching", mumbled Reid.

"Witness accounts said the other car was in your lane, travelling way past the speed limit", Hotch relayed. "If that's so, then this is not your fault", Reid continued to look at his fingers sadly.

"What's the problem then?" Rossi inquired, scowling in confusion.

"The two men in the offending vehicle told the police Reid was speeding..."

"Even so, they were on _his_ side of the road," Morgan pointed out angrily. "And he'd never speed, even without the kids with him!"

"I was actually slowing down. I was planning on pulling in somewhere to calm the kids", Spencer put in.

"I knew you weren't. Several witnesses also described you as traveling at a slow speed. It's lucky you were or the damage would be much worse".

"Well the cars pretty dead", snorted Reid.

"I'm talking about you, Eva and Georgy", deadpanned Hotch.

"Oh...right, yea."Spencer coughed. Rossi put his hands in his pockets and shook his head.

"We'll make sure they go down reckless endangerment and everything else they committed", Rossi promised, determination lacing his words. "They could've killed you. If you hadn't been under the speed limit, that is. So really..." he turned to Eva, "you're crying may have saved your lives!" Her eyebrows went up. Rossi patted her on the back in congratulations and she beamed up at him.

* * *

Maeve felt her stomach growl and she sighed, pulling up her bag and retrieving a jar of pickles she had stashed away in it. Spencer frowned at the jar as she proceeded to eat one. She saw him gazing and so offered him one.

"Uh, no thanks. Why do you have pickles?" He asked.

"It's a snack, Spence", she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The others were all smirking at the couple. Spencer glanced around to find their stares locked on him. His brow furrowed more.

"Am I missing something here?" He questioned suspiciously. Rossi and Morgan began to chuckle and

Garcia looked as if she were about to explode with gossip she was holding in.

"What do you all know that I don't?" Maeve crunched down another pickle, before licking her fingers and screwing the lid back on. She looked him in the eyes and smiled. _Poor, confused, little Spencer,_ she thought, he looked like a lost puppy at that moment.

"When are we going to get new car seats?" She asked out of the blue, randomly changing the subject, and making Garcia's mouth gape open in disappointment.

"Uh...well...I don't...soon...I guess", Spencer stammered, bewildered by what Maeve was trying to tell him.

"Well we need to get three", Spencer continued to frown and everyone held their breath.

"Wait a minute...you're?..."

"I'm pregnant."

* * *

 **So that was just a nice, Fluff chapter for you guys. Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I will try and have one out for tomorrow, but don't hold your breath.**

 **Hope you enjoyed.**

 **Please, please PLEASE review! They are what keep me going, and I haven't been getting too many and that's a little depressing.**

 **Okay, I'm just going to stick my head in cold water because I'm a review whore, have a nice night!**


	29. Stubborn

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters.)**

 **You may of noticed that this story is one chapter away from 30! And with a new story on the way I was going to get to the big 3 0 and then have a short break (and by short I mean like a week or two), because two stories at once is super hard to keep up. I'll be finishing up my other story pretty soon and that gives me time to write and publish my new one.**

 **I'm not gonna give away anything about the new fic, but like I said I will publish it soon and it will be called "Trapped in Time", and I'm really excited to write it.**

 **Anyway, you didn't come for that, you came for chapter 29 and I won't keep you waiting any longer. Here it is!**

* * *

 _"I'm pregnant"_

Spencer gaped at her and then her stomach and then the smirks written on the team's faces. Eva was also frowning being in the same boat as her father.

"That's...AMAZING!", he gasped and he reached his arms out to Maeve, who rolled her eyes and shuffled over to him, with Georgy still sleeping in her arms. When he finally released her he narrowed his eyes at the team. "How did you all know?" He jibbed, raising his eyebrows and crossing his arms in a typical Hotch stance, which he couldn't pull of very well due to the wide smile smackering his lips.

"She's not too good at hiding it. We found out yesterday in the waiting room", JJ explained.

"Why didn't you tell _me_ yesterday?" Spencer pouted, giving her his best sad, brown, puppy dog eyes.

"Because you forgot who I was yesterday", Maeve laughed and Reid's frown furrowed.

"I..I didn't, did I?" Everyone nodded and Spencer shook his head; next time he was that high he should just stay asleep. "How long have you known?" He rambled on, trying to change the subject from his practically drunken display the previous day.

"Literally a couple of days. Then you had a case, and I was going to tell you yesterday when I got back from work, but that got screwed up", she covered her mouth after saying 'screwed' eyeing Eva to see if she heard. She had apparently not, because she was busy colouring again. Hotch, JJ and Morgan smiled at the basic parent reaction Maeve had.

"Talking of, why don't you ladies grab some coffee with the kids", Rossi suggested, smiling broadly. The girls raised their eyebrows but didn't argue.

"But I wanna stay", moaned Eva, as she was dragged off the bed by Garcia. Alex and Emily stayed.

"We have an update on the men who crashed into you. And don't look so nervous, it's good news", grinned Rossi, winking at Spencer, who let out a half smile.

"Luckily two cars had dashcams and caught the majority of the accident, proving that the driver of the other car was speeding and overtaking in your lane", Hotch announced seriously. They gazed at him impressed.

"So what's happening with them?" Morgan pushed.

"The driver has been given quite a hefty fine, which will cover most of the damage and compensation. Apparently his father has a pretty big wallet", sighed Rossi. "Talking of his father, he's trying to get him off with just the fine, hired a top lawyer and everything".

"And?" Emily implored him to continue. Hotch cleared his throat.

"Well, the driver _should_ be facing a maximum of 2 years in prison for causing serious injury and negligence. But like Rossi said, his father is determined to drop those charges. I talked to a few people to make sure he didn't get off. Right now, it looks like he'll go away for 16 months, as well as 8 points taken off his licence and a 3 year driving ban", Hotch smirked proudly.

"That's very specific, Hotch. Are you sure you only "talked to a few people", because I have a feeling you did more", Reid questioned with narrowed eyes.

"If you ask me he is getting off light. He was completely negligent, and he could have killed you or Georgy or Eva", chided Morgan, unhappily. He could've killed the scum who hurt Spencer.

"At least it's something", simpered Emily.

"As long as I don't ever have to see him", grumbled Morgan angrily.

"His passenger wasn't too happy. Kicked up a hell of a fuss at the station, they were close to locking him in a cell as well", Rossi shook his head, he would never understand young people. A nurse walked in and the conversation ended.

"Sorry, I'll come back later if..."

"No, it's fine", smiled Rossi, eyeing the middle aged nurse, her firey red hair bouncing on her shoulders. He raised his eyebrows when he got a glimpse of the back view.

She lifted Spencer's chart, her eyes caught the morphine drip and she tutted.

"I wish you would stop putting that so low", she sighed.

"And I wish you'd stop putting it so high", Reid shot back, gaining him a smile.

"Well you won't have to worry about it much longer, we will release you in the morning"

"How about tonight?" Spencer compromised. Morgan kissed his teeth.

"Nu-uh pretty boy, you will stay until they let you leave", he insisted, causing Reid to stick his bottom lip out and pout.

"Well, if you think you're ready to go home, I guess you can discharge yourself, but I recommend you stay another night", the nurse rolled her eyes at the youngster's stubbornness.

"I'd leave now if I could", Reid muttered.

"Ain't happening Reid", Morgan hissed.

"I'm going tonight, Derek, you can't stop me", teased Spencer, sticking his tongue out at the older agent.

* * *

Spencer's wish came true. Though it took a lot of convincing; he finally persuaded Maeve to let him discharge himself that night. The team made flying visits throughout the day, and when 5pm rolled up Spencer was already trying to pull himself out of bed.

"Hold up, boy genius. Do you really want to leave in that?" Garcia motioned to the hospital gown and Spencer grimaced. "I thought not. Here, Maeve let me pick you an outfit", Spencer looked up at Maeve in disbelief and she shrugged.

"She's got quite the fashion sense", Maeve defended, pulling out the things Penelope had packed.

"I don't think I've ever seen you not in a shirt", Garcia pondered, revealing a long sleeved, light blue shirt covered in tiny navy leaves.

"Well thank you for not changing that streak", he praised, taking the shirt.

"Oh and I _have_ seen you out of trousers, remember our fit test?", they both shivered at the memory. "And with your leg and everything", she pulled out a pair of navy 3/4 length shorts.

"Really? It's December Garcia"

"Maybe you should think about that next time before you break your leg", she laughed. "I also got you a sock, only one because well...your other foots a little off limits." She flicked a stripy green sock at him and a pair of his boxers. Reid gathered up his clothes his cheeks burning red. He held them close to him and glanced from women to women.

"What?" Maeve frowned and Spencer pulled the shirt close to him, raising his eyebrows and tilting his head.

"Little bit of privacy, if you please", he said, in a strangled high pitch voice, which made Garcia laugh and Georgy giggle.

"Fine", smiled Maeve turning her back and covering Georgy's eyes, Garcia did the same and Eva was flat out on the chair.

After a few minutes they heard grunting.

"Need any help?" Garcia sang sweetly.

"Nope, I'm...just...ah...getting...this over...my dang..." he heaved up the shorts and grinned when they slid over his cast. He grimaced at the thick bandages wrapped around his thighs that the shorts only just managed to cover. Lucky for him the cast covered his burns.

"Done!" He called. Garcia turned and beamed. She then jumped up and pulled out a wheelchair she had hidden.

"Really? I can use the crutchs"

"Hospital rules, boy wonder. Sit!" Reid struggled into the chair and huffed as his wife, kids and friend pushed him through the corridor.

* * *

 **Sorry it's not very exciting, but after that chapter the other day, I don't think it can get much more exciting anytime soon.**

 **Once again your reviews are much appreciated.**

 **Thank you to tannerrose5, ahowell1993 and Kt who reviewed my last chapter.**

 **Kt- I don't know where this is going, it seems to be taking on a life of its own, just know that its not going to end anytime soon. Thanks again for your review, much appreciated.**

 **And to answer your suspicions tannerrose5, there will be more story connected to the boy racers that crashed into Spencer, but they weren't out to kill him.**

 **Roll on chapter 30!**


	30. Out of the Blue

( **Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **Sorry for the delay with this chapter, I have been super busy the last few days, right now I'm sat on a plane to Miami which still has two hours to go and I've already been on here for 9 hours. After that I'm taking a plane from Miami to Orlando, I'm such a dumbass, can't believe I wrote Florida before, I kept mixing them up, my brain was not with it, apologies** **. You should get this chapter when I land there.**

 **Whoops! That was yesterday, I'm getting really disorganised! We didn't get to the villa until 10 and having been awake for 24 hours I couldn't finish this. But now I have!**

 **This is only a short chapter, more are coming, but like I said in the last one I'm taking a little break from this story to write a new one.**

 **Okay, roll on chapter 30!**

* * *

"How's the case?" Spencer had been home one day and already he was nagging his team for updates at work.

They'd all decided to come and see how their youngest was doing after the accident. They'd had a late night at work and though they were forbidden to admit it to Spencer (because he'd for sure use it against them as a reason why he should help), they were struggling without him. He saw things they never could, and if they did it would take them triple the time it took him.

"Will you shut up about work!" Groaned Garcia, shoving his shoulder playfully, Spencer looked down, crestfallen.

"Sorry", he muttered and Garcia laughed.

"Don't be sorry. It's just you're meant to resting, not catching bad guys!" Laughed Garcia, Spencer rolled his eyes and pouted.

"This is incredibly tedious", he sighed and it was Penelope's turn to roll her eyes.

"Stop whining", smirked Maeve, walking in with drinks for everyone. Garcia took her hot chocolate and her face screwed up with happiness. Maeve sat down with her own drink on a chair next to the smaller couch which held JJ, Rossi and Emily and a second chair with Alex. Morgan and Garcia had sat by Reid, who seemed to have taken residence on the couch for most of that day, with his leg propped up by a foot stool. Hotch was sat in Spencer's old raggedy armchair which Maeve had almost taken to be burnt, but Spencer had camped all night on it to prove it was useable. In the end she agreed to keep it if she could cover the back in a blanket and add a few pillows, (though a book always seemed to adorn it as well).

"I swear you are the queen of hot chocolate", sighed Emily, slurping the beverage and gaining herself a chocolate moustache.

"How's the leg?" Rossi asked, motioning to Spencer's cast.

"Broken", smirked Reid, taking a big gulp of his coffee. "And I still have 4 weeks on these things", he nudged the crutches bitterly.

"Yep and you're not coming back to work for at least two", ordered Hotch and Reid's eyes went large.

"No way!"

"Yes way, and it will be Christmas by then so we will have another week off", Reid gaped at Hotch.

"5 days!" He begged.

"2 weeks", Hotch said simply.

"6 days". Hotch rolled his eyes

"12 days". Hotch knew they'd be struggling without Reid for two whole weeks, but he had to stick to what he said.

"7"

"10, and that's my final offer".

"I'll see you in a week", winked Spencer and Hotch frowned.

"9 then", he could feel himself beguinning to crack.

"6"

"Fine! I'll see you in a week! But if you are back any earlier I will call security on you", Hotch avoided his team's eyes, a little embarrassed that he'd given in to Spencer's negotiations.

"Great!" Reid grinned, sipping his coffee happily.

Georgy, Eva, Jack and Henry ran through the living room, giggling and yelling orders at each other. From the short daggers Henry and Georgy held, the pirate hat Jack had sat on his head and the braids and belt that Eva wore; they were playing pirates.

"Henry you scurvy traitor!" Yelled Eva from the other room. "You must walk the plank!"

"And get eaten by a giant crocodile", Jack laughed.

"No! He will be eaten by a squid!" Georgy giggled.

"Actually, he is more likely to be eaten by a shark! Don't argue with your captain!" Eva ordered, before their yells died down after the slamming of a door.

"How does she know what scurvy means?" Smiled JJ, and Spencer sunk into his seat.

"And I wonder who told her about the probability of getting eaten by a shark?" Maeve raised her eyebrow at her husband, who was molding further into the couch. He went to open his mouth, but thought better of it and remained quiet.

Hank was sat on Morgan's lap looking hopefully after the children, his small blue eyes darting up at Morgan and back the direction the other kids fled in. Morgan noticed and stroked his hair.

"Couple of months buddy and you can play with them too".

"Couple of months! You expect him to be running around playing pirates in a couple on months?" Chuckled Garcia.

"He's _my_ boy! Of course he will! He's almost got walking down to a T." Morgan smiled proudly at his son.

"Well he has a friend closer to his age on the way", simpered JJ, motioning to Maeve.

"He's going to love that. Hey Hank bud, do you want your own friend to..." Morgan didn't need to finish because the little boy was clapping his hands joyfully. They all beamed at him.

"I'm just going to get some more sugar", Emily announced, heaving herself from the couch, balancing her mug on her palm.

"There should be some in the cubboard above the sink", Maeve instructed. Emily was about to step over the threshold, when Henry skidded in, Emily had to hop out the way, almost spilling her hot chocolate.

"Mummy! Mummy! Help they want to feed me to the fish!" He jumped on the sofa and tried to hide behind her. Eva burst in brandishing a long plastic sword.

"Where is that traitorous sea mate! He must be punished", she yelled in a deep pirate accent.

"No idea", Spencer said, looking around dramatically. Eva eyed him suspiciously.

"I know he's in here I can see his feet. You're lucky that you've hurt yourself or I'd make you walk the plank with him", she warned. She then turned to JJ and waved her sword. "Excuse me Mermaid, there is a traitor hiding behind you". With that Henry attempted to escape, jumping off the couch and heading for the stairs.

"You cannot get away from your captain", screeched Eva, chasing after the older boy. The adults chuckled at the kids games. Hotch set his drink down and got to his feet.

"I'm just going to use the bathroom", he annouched, hurrying from the room.

* * *

"Do you think Ev..I mean captain Eva has caught Henry?" Georgy asked Jack, who was spinning the wheel that was glued on Georgy's wall.

"I don't know, But she's pretty quick", mused Jack. "As her second mate I'm in charge. Raise the mast".

"Ey ey cap...second mate", Georgy stammered, raising a hand and saluting Jack. He lifted a blanket and tied one end to his bed and the other to a stick they'd found outside . He lifted it in the air, and lent it against the wall so it wouldn't fall.

Jack froze at the sound of footsteps.

"Man the canons!" He shouted. Giving the wheel one last spin he jumped down and hid behind one of the boxes. Spencer and Georgy had made a pirate ship from boxes after Maeve had a big delivery. After 3 weeks the ship was still up, if a little disheveled.

"What shall I fire?" Georgy asked, and Jack handed him a stuffed animal.

The footsteps got closer and Jack realised it was only one footstep accomapnaied by the tap of crutches. He was about to call off the attack, but Spencer walked in and Georgy open fired.

"Woah!" Gasped Spencer, as Georgy's stuffed giraffe pelted him. Luckily the toy was soft and he managed to keep his balance.

"Uh oh", hissed Jack, they glanced at each other nervously, sinking back into the boxes.

"Sorry Daddy!" Georgy stood up and bit his lower lip. "I didn't know...I promise..."

"It's fine", chortled Reid, repositioning himself on his crutches. "I was going to ask you where your sister and Henry is".

"Oh." Both boys said.

"I don't know", Jack said simple, returning to the wheel.

Reid went back to the others and shrugged. A squel sounded from his study and he rolled his eyes.

"Found them".

"I'll tell them to go back upstairs ", Maeve offered, worried about Spencer's leg.

"No it's fine", Spencer made his way slowly to his study. He hopped past the kitchen when something caught his eye. He paused and manoeuvred his way through the door. He looked up and almost fell off his crutches.

Emily and Hotch were tangled in a heated embrace, their lips locked together. Hotch had Emily pulled close to his chest as he hungrily kissed her, his fingers entwined in her belt loops holding her tight. Emily's hands were ruffling through Hotch's thick black hair.

They opened their eyes, but Hotch caught Reid in the doorway and he pulled away.

"What is it Aaron?" She followed his eyes and gasped.

"Um...well...this is a development." Reid smiled awkwardly as the other two agents blushed deeply.

* * *

 **Well that was completely out of the blue.**

 **A side note, I don't know if you noticed, but JJ's newest child doesn't exist, but this story is basically a complete AU, so I didn't think it would be a problem.**

 **Hope you enjoyed chapter 30, there won't be an update for at least a week if not two.**

 **I will be back!**


	31. The Secret

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **Just a quick little chapter because I promised I'd be back with this story.**

 **So where were we... oh yes, Spencer had just walked in on a heated kiss between Aaron and Emily.**

* * *

"Uh..." Emily began, not knowing what to say.

"I-It's not w-what y-you think", Hotch stammered, his usual scary, boss-man demeanour melting away. Reid smirked at them and adjusted himself on his crutches.

"I highly doubt it's not what I think", he grinned. Emily let out an embarrassed squeak and Hotch's cheeks burnt beet red. Their embarrassment only made Reid's smile widen.

"I-Uh...should get back", muttered Emily, making for the door that Spencer was occupying. He let her through, watching her with a cheeky grin. She had to avert her eyes from his to prevent her own cheeks from staining crimson.

The kitchen fell silent. Hotch watched his feet, feeling Spencer's eyes boring into him.

"Soooooo..." Spencer laid particular emphasis on the word, enticing his boss into conversation.

"One word, Reid. One word and-"

"Woah", Spencer's eyes widened at the growl in Hotch's voice.

"I mean it Reid. I will make sure you have sick leave until Easter." Spencer swallowed thickly, licking his lips which had seemed to get intolerably dry.

"Yes sir..." he whispered, backing away.

Hotch turned back to the sink, taking a deep, shuddering breath. He whipped around at the sound of Spencer's crutches.

"And by the way, Sir." Spencer screwed his face into a cute grin. "I think you guys make a great couple", he winked before hurrying from the room so that his boss couldn't condemn him to more time off work.

Hotch couldn't stop the smile creeping over his own lips. _He's a genius. He must be right,_ he thought happily. He sighed, thinking about Emily and the several private moments they'd shared thus far.

He made sure to return his face to its normal serious mask, but it was exceedingly difficult with his thoughts swirled around the woman he was beginning to fall deeply in love with.

* * *

The pirate game had come to an abrupt end when Eva had pushed Georgy the traitor off the plank and he'd burst into tears. After a trip to his Mummy, Georgy had been returned with his Daddy, who had scolded the captain of the SSR Rubber Duck for pushing her mate over board.

Alone once more, the four children sat in a circle not knowing what to play next.

"Are you guys coming to watch me play baseball on Saturday?" Jack asked eagerly, glancing around at his 'cousins' (as dubbed by 'Aunt' Penelope.)

"I am!" Exclaimed Henry.

"Only if you're coming to see my soccer game", Eva negotiated stubbornly.

"Soccer? You play soccer?" Jack frowned, remembering that no girls ever wanted to play on his old team.

"Of course I do! What do you expect me to do? Ballet?" She snorted. "Georgy's more likely to do ballet than I am!"

"Hey! I play chess!" Cried the younger boy, clearly offended by the way his lower lip stuck out.

"Fine, fine!" Jack surrendered quickly, shaking his head at himself for thinking that a girl like Eva _wouldn't_ play a rough game. "If you come watch my game, I promise to come to your next one, alright?" Eva nodded happily.

"Who else is coming?" Asked Henry, counting the people on his fingers, holding up 4 so far.

"My dad. And all of your parents, you guys won't be going without them", Henry nodded, adding 5 more fingers.

"What about _your_ mum?" Georgy piped up, he was faced with a glower from his sister. This wasn't the first time he'd asked. The last time he'd asked was when he was 3. He'd asked Eva one night when they were watching cartoons.

 _"How come we have a Mummy, but Jack doesn't?" Eva turned to him, a sour look on her face._

 _"You're not allowed to ask that, Georgy!"_

 _"Why not?" He asked. Eva frowned further, she remembered she'd asked her daddy and when he'd told her it made her sad. She didn't want Georgy to feel sad either._

 _"Because...because...you're just not allowed! You'll get told off". Georgy's eyes widened at this, and with the fear of a scolding, he decided not to ask again._

Georgy covered his mouth, remembering his sister's warning.

"Don't worry, Georgy", Jack took a deep, still smiling so as not to upset the boy. "My Mummy can't come to the game because she died when I was little", he saw the younger boys lip tremble. "But it's okay, because she loved me very much and I've always had my Dad", he said proudly.

"So y-you d-don't have a mummy?" Sniffed Georgy.

"No, but it's okay", Jack shrugged, suddenly feeling a bit empty inside. He looked at the floor sadly, but a second later he felt small arms smother him. He raised his head to find Georgy pressing him into an embrace. Jack returned this by pulling Georgy into a bear hug.

"I hope you can have another mummy soon."

* * *

Spencer got into bed beside Maeve, who turned and snuggled into his side. Spencer sighed, wrapping a protective arm around her and pulling her closer.

"Good day?" He asked.

"Mmm hmmm", she murmed into his soft brown curls. Spencer's eyes lit up with michevious desire.

"Well you won't believe what I walked into today," he grinned, raising his eyebrows and coaxing Maeve's eyes open.

"I'm probably risking my job...no, my LIFE, telling you this."

TBC

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Please leave a review. Tell me what you think, and what you'd like to see happen next. Feel free to pm me/review if there's something you want me to write into this story, I have plans, but I'm open to suggestions.**

 **Chapter 32 is in the works, I promise...**


	32. Christmas Surprises

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **As you can tell by the title of this chapter, its Christmas time again at the BAU. So to prepare you this chapter is just going to be s family one.**

 **Please leave a review.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Spencer rolled over onto his side and opened his eyes gingerly. He smiled at the sight of his wife's sleeping form and snuggled up next to her, stroking her hair lightly. He looked past her shoulder at the clock and another smile filled his face.

December 25th.

He glanced nervously at the bedroom door; waiting. He heard the first set of footsteps and then a second along with crazed giggling, before their bedroom door was thrown open. Spencer hid his head under the covers as the kids climbed onto their bed.

"Mummy! Mummy, wake up!" Cried Georgy, snuggling his way beneath the covers.

"It's Christmas!" Squealed Eva, throwing her arms in the air and lauching herself in the small snuggle spot between her parents and Georgy. "Come on, come on! Santa's been! I want some presents!" She insisted, pulling Spencer's arm.

"Okay! But you know the rules. Christmas coffee and hot chocolate first. You three go wait in the living room and I'll make so-"

"Can I help, Daddy?" Georgy asked; he pulled his head from where he'd buried it in pillows and gave Reid the biggest, roundest puppy dog eyes ever.

"Sure", Spencer held a hand out, his other pulling a crutch under his arm, and helped Georgy slip off the bed.

Reid settled Georgy on the counter as he flicked the already full kettle on and pulled out two large Christmas mugs; one red, one blue and two smaller mugs with snowmen on. The mugs had been identical, but on closer examination, Spencer realised the one snowman had a cape draped over his shoulders and a poorly drawn magic wand. Spencer smiled and shook his head; _I'm going to have the to hide the sharpies from Eva,_ he thought fondly to himself.

"D'you know what's first?" He asked, and Georgy glanced around throwing a finger towards a tin marked coffee. Spencer grinned and grabbed the tin, spooning an equal potion into the big mugs. He then reached up and pulled down a small pot of hot choclate power and tipped some into the smaller mugs.

"Water!" Georgy called as Spencer took the kettle and filled the cups. He put the kettle down and waited expectedly for his next instruction.

"Milk!"

Spencer stirred the mugs and Georgy held his hands up expectantly for his mug. Reid added his usual bucketload of sugar and a spoon for the other mugs.

"This is a Super Special Reid Hot Chocolate", Spencer said, holding a finger up. He revealed a canister of squirty cream from the fridge and a pack of mini marshmallows. He put them on the counter and Georgy looked down; drooling over the delicacies. Spencer slammed down to tubs of ice cream and Georgy gasped.

"Ice cream first," Spencer said, putting a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the mugs and an extra scoop of chocolate ice cream in the smaller mugs. "Then cream", he squirted a hefty mountain of cream in all four mugs and wiped some across Georgey's lips causing the young child to giggle.

"You wanna do the marshmallows, buddy?" He handed the bag to his son who sprinkled them over each mug, sticking his tongue out with concentration and making sure they all had an equal share.

"Perfect! Oh, one more thing!" Spencer grabbed four candy canes from the jar of the counter and stuck them into the cream. "Voila!"

"That's awesome Daddy!" Georgy held his hands out and was rewarded with his Super Special Reid Hot Chocolate.

Spencer set Georgy down on his feet and he toddled into the living room. Spencer, pulled a crutch under his arm to support his still healing leg and carefully and amazingly managed to carry the tray to his family and settled next to his wife, handing her a coffee.

"Well Dr Reid, I must say you've out done yourself," praised Maeve examining her mug.

"Stop talking! Presents!" Shouted Eva, putting her mug down and licking her cream moustache.

"Alright bossy! You can open the presents Santa got you now", Reid wrapped an arm around Maeve as the kids tore into their presents, showering each other in wrapping paper.

They both opened an outfit first, Eva gave it a quick look before moving on. Georgy, on the other hand, gasped audibly and held up his clothes.

"Look mummy! Look! I'm going to look just like Daddy!" Reid's cheeks burnt red as Maeve surpressed a giggle.

Georgy held up a hanger with shirt pattererned in miniature dinosaurs and an adorable navy waistcoat and trousers. The most endearing part was the bow tie, navy in colour to match the waistcoat.

"That's great, buddy", Reid grinned, giving his son a thumbs up.

Georgy gentle laid down the clothes, beaming at them before moving onto the next present from his sack.

Eva had ripped over two more, one was a colouring book the other a big pack of sharpies which she silently pointed out to Maeve, eager to get to the next gift.

She grabbed a squishy package and cringed, knowing it would be clothes. She pulled off the paper, narrowing her eyes at the purple material underneath. Maeve glanced at Spencer and they shared a smug smile as a scream filled the room.

"Look! Look! Look!" She swung the t-shirt around to show her brother. "Mum, Dad! Look what Santa got me!" She held up a purple top, with an image of the tardis in the middle and "DOCTOR WHO" in bold writing above.

"Wow! That's pretty cool!" Simpered Maeve, gasping at the top.

"I think I know what that preset will be then", Spencer smirked, pointing to another gift shaped strangely. Eva snatched up the gift, ripping off the paper lightening fast.

"Whoah!" Eva raised the sonic screwdriver into the air her eyes shining with joy. She pressed a button and it made the classic noise and she bit her lower lip with excitement.

* * *

Rossi opened the front door and made a welcome gesture to the Reid's.

"Welcome to my humble abode! And may I say how pretty you look Miss Eva, oh and who's this handsome devil!" Eva puffed out her chest out proudly, with a smug smile and Georgy clutched Spencer's leg, his cheeks flushing red and a shy smile creeping over his lips.

Dave ushered them inside, giving Spencer and Maeve an Italian kiss. They walked, (Spencer hopped on his crutches) into the main room, where Rossi had a ginormous tree, simply decorated, with white lights and silver tinsel. Beneath the tree lay at least 50 presents if not more. Maeve pushed the pile she'd brought under the branches as Eva pulled on Rossi's sleeve.

"Uncle Dave, when can we open the presents?" She asked politely, trying her best and succeeding at puppy dog eyes.

"After dinner. But I promise that dinner is just as good!" Eva grinned and skipped over to the tree to see which presents were hers.

"Can I let Merton off his leash?" Spencer asked, looking at the fat sausage dog balanced in his arm, who was wiggling his nose at the smell coming from the kitchen and making Reid struggle to remain on his crutches.

"Yea, but Clooney and mechie are about, I wouldn't want Merton to eat them", Rossi chuckled and Spencer kissed his teeth, putting his hand over the sausage dogs ears as if the words would offend him.

"He's not that fat", pouted Reid, placing the dog on the floor and watching him plod to menchies basket and lay down, proving how harmless he was. Spencer sighed and got a better hold on his crutches.

* * *

"Is everyone here?" Called Rossi, coming out to the living room. Georgy, Eva, Jack and Henry were sat on the floor playing monopoly, while the adults chatted with each other.

"Okay BAU family, Dinner is served!"

* * *

The kids were opening presents and thanking the adults for everything they opened up. It took 15 minutes for them to get through all the gifts Garcia got them.

"Okay it's time for adult presents!" Announced Garcia pulling the piles of presents from under the tree and handing them out. Reid and Maeve watched as everyone's presents piled up around them, when not one had been given to them. Garcia gave the final present to Rossi and she tried to hide her smile at the look of disappointment on the Reid's faces. She decided it would be too cruel to leave them like that.

"We haven't forgotten about you two love birds. We all pitched in to get your present, but you've gotta wait", with that she turned to her gifts and tucked in.

They all felt a little bad making Reid and Maeve watch them open presents when they had none themselves.

"Have we made them suffer enough, Rossi?" Garcia asked, smiling sweetly at Maeve and Spencer.

"I guess we should let up", Morgan shrugged, and Rossi exited.

"What are you guys up to?" Maeve mused looking around. JJ took a sip of wine to cover her smile. Emily whispered into Hotch's ear, making his grin. Morgan and Savannah were trying their best to look innocent. Garcia, however, had a massive protruding grin, which she made no attempt to cover.

Rossi came back in with a box wrapped with red ribbon. He placed it gently on Reid lap.

"This is from everyone", he stood waiting expectantly for them to open it. Spencer glanced around suspiciously, but Maeve (fed up of waiting) undid the ribbon and lifted the lid. She peeked inside the box and closed the lid again, her mouth hanging open.

"We thought that Merton needed a new friend, after all he's been alone for 5 years now", chirped Garcia. Maeve looked at Spencer who was equally gobsmacked. He prized the lid off fully this time and a puppy placed its paws on the edge of the box, raising itself to see Spencer and Maeve. It's tail wagged happily and it gave Reid a sloppy, wet lick.

"I guess the Reid effect no longer exists", laughed Hotch.

"You got us a dog?" Maeve marvelled, stroking her finger along its soft head.

"A bitch", Spencer corrected, lifting the puppy from the box. The tiny sausage dog wiggled her body and jumped up and down on Spencer and Maeve, accepting their strokes with ardour.

"Maybe chubby Merton can have some pups of his own," Rossi grinned, rubbing his hand together. At the sound of his name, the fat sausage dog waddled out of the labradors bed and came to investigate. He saw the other dog on his owners laps and he stormed over with jealously.

"He's keen already!" Chortled Morgan. Merton stiffed the young bitch, realising he liked her smell. However, she was sat in his favourite seat, and he couldn't let her get away with that. He struggled up onto the couch, Garcia having to give him a boost. He scrabbled into Maeve's lap, cementing himself there, watching her and making sure she only gave him love.

"I-I don't know what to say," Spencer breathed, holding the puppy up to his face and admiring the brown markings along her short fur.

"Thank you!" Maeve sang, trying to stroke the puppy as Mertons nose nudged her arm away.

"Looks like someone's jealous", JJ motioned to the chunky dachshund looking for some attention.

"You've gotta pick a name", Savannah implored. The kids who had been watching jumped up with their suggestions.

"Poppy!"

"Caramel!"

"Molly!"

"Armadillo!" Spencer had a feeling that came from Eva

"Brownie!"

"Ice cream!"

"Chocolate!"

"M and M", Eva shrieked, trying to make sure they considered her options. They all laughed at her and she folded her arms and pouted.

Georgy pulled on Reid's sleeve to get his attention.

"I have one, Daddy", he mumbled.

"And what's that, bud?"

"It's the one thing you love most in the world; Coffee", he said proudly. Spencer sighed and pushed Georgy's hair from his eyes.

"That's a great idea, George. But you _do_ know that the things I love most in the world are you three...oh and Merton...and Coffee", he motioned to the puppy. A small ahem rose from the team. "And my team...actually _everyone_ in this room."

* * *

The kids spent most of the day opening their toys and playing games with each other. At one point, Eva had her spy goggles on and was hunting down the other kids, needless to say she caught them all. Somehow Reid and Hotch started talking about a case and were only stopped when Rossi handed them a glass of his finest whiskey.

The real drinks came out after a few games of cards. When the games got competitive, shots were taken and the clock struck 9, Will, Savannah, and Maeve put the kids to bed, (though Eva snuck out twice and Maeve found her on Spencer's lap revealing his cards and taking the pot.)

Maeve came back from tucking the kids in and squeezed into the love seat with Spencer, who was on his fifth glass of wine. _This won't end well,_ Maeve thought, taking a nervous sip of her own wine.

* * *

Spencer held up his glass, stumbling back slightly before regaining a somewhat steady footing.

"I-I juss- wanna say somthin", Maeve shook her head, standing up and trying to pull her husband back in the love seat they had acquainted themselves with. "S'alright, I got thissss". He somehow managed to resume his position, balencing on his crutches, swaying a little and thrusting his glass back up to the heavens, sloshing it on Rossi's tiled floor.

"All I'm gonna say is that, I," he placed a sincere hand on his heart, leaning back and almost tripping straight into the fire. Maeve grabbed his arm to keep him steady as Hotch buried his face, hiding his smile. "I hope t-that we all 'av anozer f-fan-fantas- good year!" He took a deep swig of his wine and grimaced. "This stuff iz bitter, where's Rossi's whiskey", Reid turned and limped his way off the fireplace, his abrupt speech clearly over to the surprise of the other agents.

"Oh and also!" Reid turned back to them all, remembering his speech again. "We're having a baby!" He whispered this part, his eyes wide and expectant and everyone was smirking and nodding sarcastically.

"Yea we know Pretty Boy", laughed Morgan.

"Know what?" Spencer asked innocently, his eidetic memory clearly failing him, or the wine was making him ditzy, or both. "Hey! Where the whiskey old man!?" Reid demanded, gazing at Rossi who kissed his teeth and chuckled.

"Oh you're gonna pay for that one kid", he muttered, pulling his new whiskey bottle closer to his chest.

"Anything else Spence?" JJ giggled, taking her own sip of wine; only a sip, she was watching living prof of what a swig of the stuff could do to you.

"No, whiskeys fine. Unless you've got vodka?" He asked hopefully, airhead Reid was clearly on a rampage.

"She means your speech", Maeve rolled her eyes at the confusion on Spencer's face.

"Uh what speech?" He looked thoughtful for a minute and then as if a lightbulb had gone off, his face lit up and he released a squeak of excitement. "I remember! I always remember!" He cried loudly. He turned to Hotch and Emily, who had managed to get close on the couch. "Congratulations!" He cheered.

"Okay, I think that's enough wine-actually that's enough drink all together", Maeve tried to take Spencer's glass, but he gave her his best puppy dog eyes and she retracted. _Damn it,_ she thought. Spencer was the master of puppy dog eyes and it seems he passed on the trait to his children.

"Um...what are you talking about Reid?" Emily asked, nervous all of a sudden.

"Congratulations!" He repeated, motioning to Hotch and Emily. "I think you guys make a great couple!"

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon! I have a pretty intense one coming for you guys...**


	33. Boxing Day

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)**

 **Hola! I'm back with another chapter, I know they're getting pretty inconsistent, but at least I can promise that this story won't be ending anytime soon!**

 **Okay put your feet up, have a cookie and settle in for this chapter.**

 **And if you're feeling extra nice, leave a review and make me super happy!**

* * *

Rossi wandered sleepily out of his room, finding Hotch on one of his couchs; coffee in hand, watching some cartoon he'd stuck on to keep the kids quiet so his team could have a lie in.

"Morning", Rossi grumbled, hobbling to the kitchen to get his own mug of coffee, before taking a seat on the loveseat beside the couch Hotch was in.

"Morning", Hotch murmured back.

"Soooo, are we gonna talk about what Reid sa-"

"Reid was drunk", Hotch replied, a little too quickly.

"So he was, but he was pretty insistent on that... little fact before he...you know...passed out", Rossi smiled at the recollection.

"When isn't he", countered Hotch, not taking his eyes off the kids. Rossi smiled to himself before taking a sip of his coffee, Hotch clearly didn't want to talk about it.

"Urgh, where the coffee", Morgan skunk to the couch, ready to collapse onto his knees and beg where the coffee was.

"Kitchen", Rossi waved, taking another rejuvenating gulp. Morgan groaned again and dragged himself to the kitchen.

Garcia hopped in, her makeup on, her clothes glittered and her smile glued on with an unbelievable amount of Christmas spirit.

"Morning my lovelies!" She chirped and Hotch and Rossi glanced at each other, rolling their eyes.

"Please give me some of that energy", huffed Rossi.

"Nu uh! That's a Garcia secret I can't share with anyone! So who's ready for Christmas part 2!" She squealed, making Hotch curl up tighter on the couch.

"My God! Garcia, are you ever tired? Or hungover?" Moaned Emily, as she and Maeve slipped in. Maeve was almost as perky as Garcia, not having had a drink the night before due to her pregnancy.

"Is everyone up?" Maeve asked, heading over to her kids and giving them a quick kiss (Eva instantly wiped hers off, her cheeks reddening as she snuck a peek at Jack and Henry to make sure they hadn't seen.)

"Savannah is sorting Hank out", Morgan said, coming back in with his coffee secured in his grip.

"JJ and Will haven't come out y-", Rossi started, before he was interrupted by a groggy voice.

"Present!" JJ called, flopping on the couch by Hotch and moaning into the pillows.

"Aspirin?" Garcia asked, pulling her handbag off the counter.

"Please", sighed JJ, lifting her head.

"Is Reid still in bed?" Emily asked anxiously, pray that no-one would question her'after the previous nights fiasco.

"Uh, no, I thought he was watching the kids", Maeve glanced over to the TV where all the kids were sat quietly.

"I haven't seen him since I came out here with these guys", Hotch frowned.

"So Spence is missing?" JJ mumbled.

"Actually Reid, Merton, Mudgie, Cloony and Coffee are missing", Rossi pointed out. They all turned their attention to the backdoor where the snow was falling.

Garcia pranced to the door, Maeve at her heels, followed by the stragglers. Rossi opened it and sucked in a breath at the chill that passed over him.

"What the hell is he doing?" Laughed Morgan, gazing out at the garden, where the dogs were running around, chasing each other and Reid sat in the middle of the falling and fallen snow.

Merton was sat protectively beside Reid, not having the patience to play with the young puppy. Reid picked up the ball again and threw it weakly. The two big dogs and little Coffee darted after it. The sausage dogs tiny legs didn't help in the inch deep snow. Reid's crutches lay frozen in the thickening snow.

"Hey! Genius! Are you trying to freeze to death?" Reid squinted and turned his head slowly to see where the offending voice came from. His eyes focused on the door as he squinted harder. The team were stood in the doorway looking over at him, he felt his cheeks burn red.

Reid grabbed a handful of snow and pressed it to his forehead.

"Is he still drunk? Has he been at your whiskey?" Morgan chortled, heading outside in his sweatpants and short sleeve top.

"He's lost the plot as well", Will laughed.

"Hey, Kid, come inside its freezing out here", Morgan touched Reid's hand and marvelled at how cold and pale it was.

"Headache", was all Spencer said.

"Yea right", snorted Morgan, grabbing the fat sausage dog, who had been comfortable leaning on Spencer's lap.

"Hey, we're fine here", Spencer pouted.

"You need some coffee in your system."

"I uh...don't think it's a good idea for me to go in there", Spencer whispered, glancing over nervously. Morgan followed his gaze, his eyes falling on Hotch and Emily and he sighed.

"No-one has said anything about that, Pretty Boy. Besides I'll be with you, so I'll make sure they can't tear you to pieces", Spencer gulped at Morgan's poor choice of words. "Come on", Morgan urged, offering Reid his hand. Spencer closed his eyes and let Derek pull him to his feet, pulling his crutches along with him.

 _Time to face the music,_ he thought, grimacing.

"How you feeling, Spence?" JJ croaked. She knew she felt rough, but the sight of Reid made her hangover look like a day at the park.

"I'm fine. Just a headache. What about you? You were hitting it pretty hard last night", Reid smirked as JJ grumbled.

"Me!? I only had a few glasses of wine. _You_ had some of Rossi's whiskey!" She accused, although the smile never left her face.

"So did you", added Reid. Rossi scowled a little, looking at the two confused.

"And when did you have _my_ whiskey?" He inquired, raising his bushy eyebrows.

"Uh...it was Reid's idea", JJ tattled.

"No way! The scotch was my idea, you got the whiskey", Reid shot back, paling suddenly when he realised he'd revealed too much. Rossi's mouth dropped open.

"When was this? Because you passed out just before we all went to bed", Maeve questioned, giving Reid a sharp look which had made him spill the truth on many other occasions.

"When you all started the second round of cards. JJ dragged me to Rossi's bar and found the good stuff", he admitted sheepishly.

"Traitor", hissed JJ behind a grin.

* * *

"Are you in trouble?" Reid turned to the small boy behind him, who was twiddling his fingers nervously. He closed their front door and took Georgy into the living room.

The team had spent most of the day at Rossi's cooling down from the day before and enjoying each other's company. Luckily for Reid, Hotch's and Emily, no-one brought up the drunken speech. Although Hotch had given Reid the cold shoulder, glaring at the young man whenever he got the chance. Prentiss tried to keep her distance from Hotch, but the tension filled the air. Spencer had been glad to get home.

"Uh no...well, maybe a little", Spencer simpered, using his fingers to show the minuscule amount of trouble he was in, though he knew it was an understatement. He was in _big_ trouble. Emily and Hotch were going to rip into him when they got back to work, he just knew it.

Georgy bit down on his lip and looked up at his dad nervously.

"I don't want you to be in trouble, daddy", he whispered sadly.

"It's okay. It was an accident and you know what happens when you do something by accident and apologise?" Georgy frowned thoughtfully and finally shrugged.

"You get forgiven," Reid said, ruffling Georgy's hair. He prayed his words were right.

* * *

Rossi pulled the big bag of wrapping paper to the front door. He peeked out the window and grimaced; the snow was falling even heavier now, his path was completely devoured by it. He looked down at his new slippers that Morgan, Savannah and Hank had got him. With that thought he left the rubbish at the door and went to get himself a strong scotch.

 _Hotch and Prentiss?_ He thought to himself, mulling over the names. _Aaron and Emily...Emily and Aaron..._

He chucked to himself. _Who knew the bureau could be so scandalous._

* * *

Garcia opened her door and sighed. Her house was still celebrating Christmas, with the lights flashing madly on the tree, the light up robotic Santa was continuously chanting 'Ho Ho Ho' and the house looked like a glitter explosion.

She set her bag of presents on the floor, grabbed a candy cane and flopped onto her couch. She allowed her thoughts to drift back to the events of the last few days. She smiled softly when images of her smiling niece and nephews filled her head. Her thoughts then took a turn.

 _Aaron and Emily Hotchner_ , Garcia squealed at the thought.

* * *

Morgan carried a sleeping Hank inside, and quickly settled in the rocker.

"Do you believe Spencer?" Savannah asked, sitting on the couch beside him and reaching over to stroke Hank's hair.

"The kid's never lied to me before", Morgan shrugged.

"S-so you think Hotch and Emily...you know... are in a relationship?" Savannah stuttered, kissing her teeth to surpress her smile. Morgan openly grinned.

"I'm surprised we never suspected sooner. I mean, we're supposed to be profilers", Morgan winked.

"So that's a-"

"Yes. As shocking as it seems, I do believe it, I trust Pretty Boy, even if he was drunk. Plus I saw the way they looked at each other after he said it. They were clearly trying to hide it."

"Oooo this is so exciting. I have to call Garcia!"

* * *

"-all we need to do now is get Rossi a woman and Garcia a man!" JJ laughed excitedly.

"Hold up, Jay. First of all, Rossi hasn't long got out a relationship, he's still taking that hard. And I don't think anyone can tame-...what does she call herself?"

"Mama, Godess, Queen of all knowin-" JJ listed.

"Anyway, she ain't gonna let a man in her life anytime soon. Do you actually believe Aaron and Emily are...at it?" JJ shot will a look as she covered Henry's ears.

"What's that mean?" He questioned instantly and Will grimaced.

"Nothing, bud. Go take your presents to your room; you can play with them up there", Will pursuaded and Henry hesitated before grabbing his sack of gifts.

"Of course I do!" JJ muttered as Henry trotted up the stairs.

"But Reid was drunk when he said it."

"Will, I'm a profiler, I think I know what it looks like when someone's hiding something", JJ smirked smugly and Will folded his arms across his chest, mimicking her smirk.

"Because you noticed before Reid actually told you", he said sarcastically.

* * *

Hotch tucked Jack in, planting a soft kiss on his son's head.

"Are we going to see Grandpa and Jess tomorrow?" Jack muttered sleepily, his eyes slowly falling closed.

"Yep. And you'll get some more presents as well", Hotch saw Jack's faint smile as his eyes closed.

"Love you Dad", he murmured. Hotch sighed and stroked Jack's hair from his face.

"Love you too Buddy", Hotch stood up, watching his son sleep for a few seconds before tip-toeing from the room.

He crept downstairs, still smiling to himself. He went to his small drinks cabinet and poured himself some whiskey.

"Hey Handsome", Hotch spun his head around, his fingers reaching for his belt and his trusty gun which... _is in the safe..._ he turned around slowly and his eyelids snapped to attention, his mouth catching flies as it hung open.

Emily stood with a hand on her hip and a set of his keys twirling on her finger.

He quickly composed himself, offering Emily a smile.

"Where did you get those?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I got Garcia to do a thing, I didn't tell her they were yours but I said I needed a key cut and she said she knew a guy", Emily smirked, eyeing the keys proudly.

"And why would you need a key?" Hotch was smirking now, setting down his glass and folding his arms, trying to pull off the agent Hotchner look that he had always come easy to him, but today the corners of his mouth wouldn't remain flat.

"So I could surprise you like this of course", she grinned slyly, edging closer to him. A realisation hit Hotch and his eyes screwed up suspiciously.

"And how did you get my keys in the first place?"

Emily was tantalisingly close now, breathing heavily and watching Hotch's lips with a hungry desire.

"You're easy to distract", she breathed and as Hotch opened his mouth to retort Emily's lips rammed into his, proving her point. She pressed her body against his, her lips moving over his mouth, begging for access. Hotch got over his shock quickly and found himself returning the heated kiss, closing his eyes as her ran his fingers down her back. She lent back at the touch, running her own fingers through his thick black hair.

"See", she mumbled as her lips attached to his and they became one again. Hotch's hands moved to Emily's shirt and she pulled reluctantly out of the kiss, leaving Hotch's puckered lips hanging and a disappointed look crossed his face.

"What are we gonna do about Reid?" She asked breathily, still watching his lips hungrily.

"Ah let's give him a break. It's our fault that he got so drunk, I just kept pouring him wine, and I, as his boss and his friend, should've known that what happened would happen. Anyway, it's not like we can hide this much long-"

"I don't want to hide it anymore", interrupted Emily, lacing her fingers with his. Hotch smiled pulling Emily closer.

"I'm surprised Reid hasn't shared any of my other secrets while he's drunk. He's basically my secret keeper", Emily mused. Hotch chuckled softly.

"Well he's not my secret keeper. Not by choice anyway."

* * *

 **Please Review!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, like I said before there will be an intense chapter coming soon. It'll probably be chapter 35.**

 **Thanks for reading, see you soon!**


	34. Don't Fire Me

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters, all rights go to CBS.)**

 **Sorry for the delay, I'm not really sure if people read this story and like it anymore...**

 **I mean I only have two consistent reviewers (thank you by the way), so I'm not sure if this story will last much longer.**

 **Anywho, I do have a major storyline coming up so if I do decide to end it, it won't be for a good few chapters.**

 **Urgh, I just started work, help! I'm going to try and write this while I work.**

 **Okay, that's enough talking, time to get down to buissness!**

* * *

Reid sat at the conference table, fingering his red story tie that Eva had gotten him for his birthday. He licked his lips nervously, his legs bouncing beneath the table.

It had been 2 weeks since Boxing Day. He was finally off his crutches and the team had been on a 6 day long case in Iowa since they had first come back off vacation a week prior.

Neither Hotch, nor Prentiss has confronted him about his drunken slip up and so he was mentally preparing for the two to dig into him.

In fact no-one had made any mention to his outburst on Boxing Day. Except for a few glances here and there no one had spoken a word about the possible love affair between the unit chief and his profiler.

To his surprise Morgan bustled into the conference room taking his seat.

"I hope Hotch is quick about this. I wanna get home", he grumbled, running a hand over his smooth head. Reid frowned, _they asked Morgan to come too? He is going to fire me...I can't lose this job-_ Spencer was snapped from his panicked thoughts when JJ and Garcia skirted in and plopped down, chattering animatedly to each other.

"God, I can't wait to see Will and Henry", JJ sighed. She nodded to the two men. "No doubt you two feel the same", she simpered. Morgan grinned.

"Henry maybe, but not Will so much, no offence", he chuckled and Garcia smacked his shoulder playfully.

"You know what she means you bafoon!" She teased.

Spencer swallowed thickly. _They're going to fire me in front of everyone..._

For two weeks Reid had been going though scenarios in his head of how Hotch would fire him, this wasn't how he'd imagined it at all, _Hotch wouldn't be this cruel...would he?_

In his mind Reid knew that being fired for revealing a secret was...preposterous. Even so, he'd been on edge and tried to avoid his boss for fear of losing his job.

 _He can't fire you. You can still profile just fine..._

But Reid wasn't listening to his mind, he was listening to his ever increasing paranoia.

Rossi skulked in from his office and collapsed in his chair, clearly having had to leave a half drunk scotch behind on his desk.

Spencer felt sick to his stomach.

"You alright, Spence?" JJ asked.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Boy Wonder", Garcia added, giving him a concerned smile.

"I-I'm fine.." he stammered, trying to look slightly happy.

"He's just missing the bambinis and his Bella signora", Rossi winked, a smirk on his face. Spencer returned the smile and nodded. Technically it wasn't a lie. He _did_ really miss his family, but he couldn't focus on anything with his job hanging in the balance.

Emily walked in then and took a seat, a smile plastered over her face. Reid shrunk back more.

 _She knows I'm being fired...s-she's happy about it.._ he thought sadly.

"Hurry up Hotch, I wanna get home to my boy!" Morgan called into the corridor.

"And Savannah", smirked Garcia.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget my pretty mama." Hotch marched in at that moment, his face locked in his usual serious manner, and his normal frown imprinted on his brow. _Here it comes,_ Reid thought, rubbing his clammy hands on his chords and getting ready to leave...forever. _He won't do that...w-we're a family_ , the same part of his mind- the paranoid part- crept up on him, _but you disobeyed his orders._ Spencer felt as if he had an angel and a devil on each shoulder, whispering into his ears and making him want to Become invisible.

"You're all probably wondering why I've called you here", Hotch began. Reid could have laughed; wondered? He'd been working his brain over it since Hotch and Emily had asked him to meet them here.

"Yep, and get on with it because I have some pressing business to deal with", Rossi implored, taping his watch.

"Okay uh..." Hotch looked at Emily thoughtfully, mulling over the words on his tongue.

"I have something to tell you", he said ominously.

"Spit it out", Rossi jibbed irritably. Emily saw Hotch struggling and stood up beside him. She hesitated before taking his hand in hers and looking around at them all.

"Aaron and I are in a relationship", she revealed bluntly.

"So Reid was right!" Gasped Garcia, looking at the pair, before squealing. "Oh my God! I can't believe it! Boss man and Emily! I always knew you two would be perfect together!" She exulted, hugging Emily and then wrapping her arms around Hotch, who twitched slightly before reciprocating the hug.

"Aw Man! Congratulations guys!" Morgan Beamed, taking Hotch's hand and pulling him into a half hug.

Reid seemed to be the only one sat in shock, his mouth bobbing open and close like a fish out of water.

"Y-you're not firing me then?" Spencer whispered in a small voice.

"Fire you?" Hotch laughed. Spencer eased up at the rare sound of his bosses laughter.

"Why would I fire you?"

"Because you said 'I will make sure you have sick leave until Easter' if I said a word to anyone...a-and then I told everyone, I didn't mean to though.." Reid murmured guiltily.

"I wouldn't fire you because of that. I'd only fire you if you were incapable of your job and even then I'd be reluctant to do so", Hotch admitted, putting a hand on Reid's shoulder. Spencer moaned in relief.

"Is that why you've looked so worried?" Snorted Rossi, shaking his head at the 'genius'.

"Aw! My poor Junior-G-Man! That was mean of you two", Garcia scolded, Emily put her hands up, still snickering.

"Hey, we didn't do anything, it's not my fault he thought Hotch was going to fire him", she defended.

"Yes, but you did tell Reid you were together and when he accidentally told us _and_ you gave him a hard time over that", Garcia argued. Emily bit her lip and Hotch rubbed his neck, both had a 'hand caught in the cookie jar' look about them.

"Um...technically we didn't tell him", Emily muttered.

"Oh..then how-"

"I caught them kissing in my kitchen over the sugar pot", Reid added, causing Garcia's mouth to drop open and the rest of the room to fill with laughter. Emily and Hotch blushed deeper.

"You dogs!" Crowed Morgan, slapping his thigh as he roared with laughter. It took a minute for them all to calm down in order to resume talking.

"How are you going to get this around the director?" JJ asked after she'd gotten over her shock.

"Um...well", Hotch hissed, picking through his words delicately.

"You haven't told Cruz yet, have you?" Morgan smirked.

"As long as it doesn't effect our work relationship it should be fine. And considering we've been seeing each for a couple of months now without being unprofessional, I'd say we can easily dodge the 'rules'", Emily shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Why don't we all celebrate! Drinks on me." Rossi offered, giving the couple a big toothy grin. Emily and Hotch exchanged a look with each other before looking at Reid.

"No!" Spencer, Hotch and Emily yelled in unison. No-one was ready for drinks...

* * *

 **Phew! That was hard to write! I don't even know how I was writing this while manning a live auction for 8 hours! And I'm still working ;( I only have 30 more items to sell though. In fact I should stop writing this because it's taking like 3x linger to write whilst doing this stupid computer thing - otherwise known as my job.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I know it was short and boring, but as I promised the next chapter will be the start of my next big storyline!**

 **Please leave a review, it will make me super happy and it shall inspire me to get on with the next chapter.**

 **Okay, I really have to go now, I just made a mistake . Also I only have 15 things to sell now! Wooo!**

 **See ya soon!**


	35. The Brave

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **Okay, so thanks for the reviews, gave me a bit of a kick in the butt to stop delaying my chapters and I'm sorry I took so long to update, what with my other stories and college, things got a little messed up, but I'm trying to get a handle on this. I'm going to attempt to crack out two chapters so that I have a bit of breathing room.**

 **I don't want this story to end, I love writing it too much, I just needed to know that there are still people out there who enjoy reading it.**

 **If I'm going to be better organised I should stop spending so long on the Authors notes and more time on the story, so I shall stop here.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **(Also, sidenote, this is set a few weeks after the last chapter just before Georgy's birthday which was set around February.)**

 **(P.s was Alex in this story? If she was I think I've cut her out now. Let's just say she left for a teaching job and pretend that I intentionally did that rather than forgot.)**

* * *

 _My daddy is the bravest daddy in the world._

 _My daddy is the bravest daddy in the world._ Georgy chanted this in his head, smiling at the thought of his father. Where _was_ his daddy? Georgy tried to open his eyes, but everything was too bright. He returned to his thoughts.

 _My daddy is the bravest daddy in the world._ The four year old tumbled further into darkness.

* * *

5 hours earlier

They arrived at the mall just as it was opening. Emily, Maeve and Garcia were chattering happily, sorting through their shopping bags while Reid got the kids out of the car.

"Please can I come with you, Daddy", Eva whispered as Spencer lifted her from her car seat and set her on her toes.

"I would let you, but Mummy and your Aunts have stolen you for today. Besides, do you really want to get your hair cut at Georgy's hairdressers and then wait for him to try on new shoes?" He asked, stroking the knots for the back of her hair.

"Anything is better than Auntie Pen making me wear a frilly pink tutu", whined the small girl, crossing her arms and pouting.

"You love being spoilt", Spencer teased, heading around to the other door where Georgy was struggling with his strap. Eva had mastered unclipping herself at the age of 3, but Georgy always seemed to struggle with handeye coordination.

"Let me get that, buddy", he snapped off the safety belt and pulled Georgy out, taking his and Eva's hand and heading over to the women.

"Come on slow coaches, we want to get our shopping on", Garcia squealed, pulling on Eva's hand and forcing her little legs to keep up as opposed to the purposely slow walk she'd taken up before.

Georgy gaped at the mall like he always did, marvelling at the size. Reid scooped him up, so he had a better view and didn't have to crane his neck.

"Okay, hand over your debit card, Reid", Garcia demanded, holding her palm out. Reid chuckled, but followed her order, somehow managing to shimmy the wallet out of his pocket and pull out the card all with only one hand.

"Doesn't Emily have Hotch's card now? Maybe you can use that before you bleed me dry", he joked, and Emily gave him a small shove.

"Have you got enough cash for new shoes, a haircut an-" Maeve started, but Reid stopped her by opening his wallet.

"We've got plenty. I could get everything we need and the entire collection of Star Wars", he laughed. Georgy's eyes lit up and Maeve shook her head.

"Which you will not be doing", she said, raising her eyebrows.

"Don't you already own the whole collection?" Asked Emily, a smirk on her lips.

"Yes! In fact I think we have two editions of the whole collection", Maeve exasperated.

"Okay, okay, I won't buy it, I promise. I'll see you in a bit", he lent down and kissed Maeve's cheek, trying to give Eva one too, but she turned away from him, angry that he wouldn't take her with him.

"You better get everything he needs", Maeve nagged, a smile on her lips.

"What do you take me for?" No-on answered him. They turned and began the long journey around the mall.

Spencer watched the girls wander off, Eva looking pleadingly back at them to save her. Spencer chuckled, and hitched the small boy up on his hip.

"How about we go pick our new clothes and your new birthday shoes and then we go to the park?" Spencer smiled happily at Georgy who gave him a wary look.

"What park?" He asked suspiciously.

"The chess park! Where else!?" Georgy's face lit up.

* * *

Emily pulled out her purse and nudged Maeve.

"He was right you know", she grinned.

"When isn't he", Garcia rolled her eyes. Emily pulled a card from her purse and waved it around like hidden treasure.

"Aaron did give me his card."

* * *

Reid carried Georgy into the converse shop and set him down to examine the array of shoes. Spencer watched him, but out of the corner of his eye he eyed a few pairs for himself.

"Daddy, Daddy! Look these have Star Wars on!" Georgy cried pulling said shoe off the shelf and knocking 3 boxes off with it, he barely noticed the mess he made.

"Aw wow! Those are awesome! You think they'll fit me?" Spencer put the tiny shoe beside his and Georgy giggled.

"No silly! But they fit me!" The small boy kicked his foot out to show how his were closer in size.

"You wanna try them on?" Georgy nodded eagerly.

"Uh huh!"

"Okay, I'll find your size and clean up these boxes, go sit on the bench for a minute", Georgy sprinted away and Spencer searched for a pair in Georgy's size. He brought the small box to Georgy and slipped on the converse.

"WOW!" Georgy gasped, swinging his feet around.

"Are those the ones you want?" Georgy nodded, his mouth agape. "Are you sure?" He nodded vigorously again. "I don't think you're sure enough."

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I'm totally sure! I love them!" The tiny boy squeaked and Reid smiled.

"Alright. Let's go pay to them", Spencer pulled the shoes off, placing them gently in the box, cautious of the way Georgy was still drooling over them, that he would attack him if Spencer got even one scratch on them. He stuck his hand out for his son to take and they made their way to the counter.

"I think it's about time for that haircut now", grimaced Reid, fingering his chin length messy waves and glancing at the mop of curls Georgy wore, which had started to elongate.

"I want it short again, Daddy, like yours that one time", Georgy asked vaguely, but Reid knew what he was on about.

"Okay, but not too short, or Mummy will be mad at Daddy", Reid whispered making Georgy smile.

"I don't like the buzzy thing though", the 4 year old warned, Spencer laughed.

"I'll make sure they only use scissors, how's that sound?" Georgy nodded curtly and they wandered into the hairdressers.

They let the father and son sit beside each other, Georgy in a race car and Reid in a run of the mill hairdressers chair. Soon enough soft brown curls were littering the floor and Georgy admired his new haircut in the mirror. He had a regular boys cut with a fringe just a little above his eyes. Despite it being combed his messy curls seemed to have kicked in like Spencer's always did and he was back to his 'just woke up' type of look. Reid hadn't gone too drastic. Shorter at the back with a mess of curls at the front. Somehow the duo seemed to pull off their messy look pretty well; phenomenally well in fact, Georgy was Spencers double.

* * *

Eva was sat on the dressing room floor watching her mum trying on shirts. She laid her chin in her palms and sighed. _I bet Georgy doesn't have to do this,_ she thought bitterly.

"I'm done now, Sweetie. Let's go pay for your clothes", Eva grunted, trudging to her feet, her shoulders slumped.

"Are we done yet?" She whined, shuffling out with a miserable exression and stomping over to Penelope.

"Just a few more shops", Garcia promised, a toothy grin across her lips.

"Urgh!" Moaned the 6 year old, slumping against the wall. Maeve's phone pinged to life and she glanced at it, rolling her eyes and smiling.

"What is it?" Emily frowned in amusement.

"Oh, Spencer just asked me if he and Georgy could-" she paused, placing her hands over Eva's ears. "-go to the chess park", she mouthed and the two women laughed.

"Of course he did!" Chuckled Garcia.

* * *

"Your move, Daddy", Georgy exclaimed after placing his knight on a white square. Spencer studied the chess board. He knew how to win the game in 3 moves. He picked up a pawn and made a random move. Georgy squeaked as he moved his piece dangerously close to Spencer's king. Reid made a move which would devastate any player because it allowed the other opponent to take his king.

"I win! I win!" Georgy cried, jumping from his seat and whooping, holding Reid's king victoriously above his head. Spencer folded his arms and put on a fake pout.

"I thought you were going to go easy on me this round", he moaned, tickling his youngest's sides and making him bounce around with giggles.

"No way!" He squealed, breaking from the tickle trap and dashing across the park.

"Hey, wait for me!" Reid called, chasing after Georgy.

* * *

"Are they finished shopping yet?" Georgy asked, skipping alongside Reid.

"You know what those ladies are like", grinned Spencer. They walked along the sidewalk in pleasant silence.

Georgy's hazel eyes caught a small puppy howling down an alleyway and he smiled, releasing Reid's hand to pet the dog. Reid felt the small boy's hand leave his and he glanced around to see Georgy dashing down the alleyway.

"GEORGY!" He yelled, running after him. Georgy paused in front of the dog and turned to his father.

"Look Daddy, a puppy!" He announced, leaning down to stroke the young Labrador. Reid grabbed Georgy's hand a bit too sharply and pulled him back from the dog.

"Don't ever run away from me like that!" He warned, causing the small boy's lip to tremble.

"I-I just want-wanted to see t-the p-puppy", Georgy stammered, his eyes welling up. Spencer sighed and knelt down next to him.

"I'm sorry, buddy, but you scared me. Just don't do that again", but it was too late for apologies because big tears had started running down Georgy's cheeks. Spencer wiped the tears and pulled Georgy into a tight hug.

"How touching", a cold, high pitched voice broke into their moment. Spencer whipped his head up, his eyes narrowing at the end of the ally. He perceived a young man, stood with his hands in his pockets. Reid held Georgy tighter to himself, the 4 year old turning to see what had caused the tension in his father's arms.

"Like my dog?" The young man asked taking a few steps closer.

"What do you want?" Spencer growled harshly, pushing Gerogy behind his legs and standing. The young man grinned.

"Who said I want anything?" He chirped, coming closer, the puppy cowered at the sight of the young man.

"Stay back!" Spencer shouted, reaching for his gun and realising it was in his glove compartment.

"As a matter of fact, I did want something. A little thing called revenge", Spencer took a step back and the young man's eyes twinkled maliciously. "Don't you remember me, little boy? Your daddy doesn't because he was unconscious, but you saw me", Spencer's eyes widened and his grip on Georgy tightened.

"We never did anything. You drove in the wrong lane at an extortionate speed and-"

"And what? You're all fine... I don't see the problem. But because of you I lost my licence, my car and I may even be facing prison time! ...Lucky for me, my dad has plenty of money", he snapped, so close that Reid could reach out and touch him.

Reid let go of Georgy and sent his fist into the young man's face, before stepping back. The young man fell back holding his face as blood dripped down his nose. He touched his skin, wincing and then bursting into laughter.

"I'm not armed", he laughed nasally, trying to stem his nose bleed. "I'm not, but he is." Spencer's breath hitched and he reached out for his little boy, spinning around, his back to the young man.

Georgy was watching them behind Reid's back, he didn't notice the second young man creep up, a penknife clutched in his hand. Georgy and Reid turned around at the same time to see the second man lunge out with the knife. Spencer fell to his knees to try and shift the knife away from its target. The knife embedded into soft flesh.

Spencer watched as the man pulled the knife back and he landed a fist into the kids face before he could use the weopen again. He grabbed Georgy lifting him up into his arms and sprinted out of the alley.

The two men flailed around in pain, the one with the knife stood up to pursue the father and son, but the other waved him off.

"Leave them. Hopefully that wound will kill him."

* * *

Spencer paused in front of a coffee shop, clutching his son. He could feel blood trickling down his shirt.

"D-D-Daddy..." whimpered Georgy, his skin pale and eyes gazing down at the hole in his top.

"Shh shhh... it's okay...I'm going to get some help...it's okay...", he pressed his lips to Georgy's head, stroking his hair.

"PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP! CALL 911!" He screamed at passers by, pressing his hand to the knife wound in Georgy's abdomen.

He gently lay his son down and put pressure on the wound. Georgy didn't make a sound.

"Y-you've gotta stay a-awake George, can you do that f-for me?" The words were lost on the child, who's eyes were sliding shut heavily.

 _My Daddy's a hero,_ he thought, a weak smile on his semi-conscious lips. Spencer cries were muffled by numbness.

 _My Daddy is the bravest Daddy in the world..._

* * *

 **Please review. I've had an awful day, virus on my laptop and a scammer may have landed me in a spot of bother, so this AN is dull because I'm feeling a bit sad... god I'm depressing right now.**

 **I shall see you in the next update, I can't wait for it because that means I've made it through this problem.**


	36. Unprofessional

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **Sorry for the lack of updates. I'm really sorry!**

 **Please review and enjoy!**

* * *

"Where have they got to?" Maeve Groaned, tapping her foot impatiently.

"I'm sure they just got caught up in their game-" Garcia reassured, making Eva gasp.

"Game! Aw that's not fair!" She whined. Maeve was about to calm her when her phone screeched. She glanced at the number and sighed, accepting the call.

"Spencer, where are you?" Maeve paused and frowned.

"Spence...Spencer, calm down! What's wrong?"

* * *

Reid chased after the gurney, calling his sons name, until he felt a rough hand stop him.

"Sorry Sir, you can't come any further. Is there someone we can call for you", Spencer was gazing over the nurse's shoulder trying to push past him, his breath ragged and panicked.

"He's my son. H-he's only four, please..." Spencer begged, still pushing against the stronger nurse.

"You have to stay here. We will look after him. Now is there someone we can call for you", Spencer's mouth bobbed, but he felt the fight leave him and he shook his head.

"I-I...no. I can call her", he muttered. The nurse nodded and turned into the room they'd taken Georgy into.

Spencer fumbled with his phone and pressed speed dial, struggling to hold himself tall as the phone rang. He heard Maeve's soft voice crackle through and he couldn't hold it together anymore; he broke into a sob and his knees buckled.

"M-Mae...", he cried, collapsing against the wall and released a heart breaking sob. A female nurse saw him and felt her smile quiver downwards, rushing over to help the young man up.

"What's wrong?" Maeve's voice came through strained and broken. The nurse took Reid's hand and gave him a small tug, taking his phone from him gently and putting it to her own ear. She couldn't get the man up, so she just held onto his hand and answered the phone.

"Hello?" She called, and a woman's voice snapped through.

"Who's this!? Where's my husband? My son... who's this!?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, I saw your husband struggling so...I... I'm a nurse at Virginia ER. Your husband just came in with a small boy...I assume he's your son", the other end of the phone was silent and the nurse crouched down beside the sobbing man. She stroked his hand reassuringly.

"W-what's happened?" A whisper came through the phone and the nurse had to hold herself together at the sadness that was practically evaporating from the couple.

"I don't know any details ma'am, but you should probably get here soon."

"Can I speak to Spen-my husband? If he there?"

"Yes, of course, sorry. He's um...he's a little upset", she dropped down and gave Reid's shoulder a little nudge.

"Sir, your wife would like to speak to you", she handed over the phone and Spencer wiped his face talking a deep breath before talking. The nurse smiled and took a step back, watching the young father shake as he spoke.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...no...I-I...just come, please, we need you- I need you...", he choked on a sob, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. The nurse looked on sadly.

"I-it's my fault...it was...it was Mae! A-and I'm sorry... there was a knife...a-an-and...so much blood...too much blood Maeve..." he paused when a doctor walked by from George's room. "I-I gotta g-go...hurry", he hung up and chased the doctor.

* * *

Maeve burst into the hospital, running up to the reception with Eva trailing nervously behind. Garcia and Emily stumbled in after them.

"My son...his name's Georgy, Georgy Reid. He's here with my husband. Do you have any information or a-anything?" Maeve collapsed into the desk and started pleading with the plump, mousey brown haired receptionist, who's smile slipped upon hearing Maeve's desperation.

"Let me check the system. I'm pretty sure your husband came here not long ago. Um...Stephen?" She asked quietly.

Maeve frowned slightly, "Spencer", she corrected.

"Oh yes. That was it." The woman typed a little faster. "Ah, here. Georgy Reid was admitted at 4.42pm. We have no updates at this time. If you'd like to wait, the waiting room is down the hall. I think your husband is there. There's a coffee machine and a vending machine down that corridor. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask me", she gave the worried mother a sweet smile. Maeve nodded slowly and turned to the girls.

"Well?" Garcia insisted. Maeve shrugged.

"She didn't know anything", she muttered miserably. Emily took her hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Come on, let's find Reid", she said.

* * *

Reid looked up to see his wife and daughter walking in. At the sight of them he felt a sob escape him. Maeve caught his eyes and she rushed over, holding onto to him as he cried into her shoulder. He melted into the embrace, breathing in the strawberry shampoo smell her hair was emitting. Eva pushed herself between the embrace, snuggling her face into the leg of Spencer's pants.

"I'm s-so s-so-sorry", he wept, looking at her face with big, sad eyes.

"Don't blame yourself. What happened?" She forced him into a seat, taking his pale, quivering hands. Garcia and Emily took a seat opposite them, listening.

"I-it was", he took a deep shuddering breath before continuing. "W-we left the park a-and w-we were walking along the streets when G-Ge-Georgy ran down an alleyway where he'd seen a puppy. I ran straight after him and was pulling him back when h-he...t-the...", Spencer swallowed thickly. "The y-young men who crashed into us before Christmas were there." Garcia's eyes went wide.

"Were they trying to kill you?!" She gasped.

"I-I don't know. The one complained about everything he'd lost since the crash. We were about to leave when the second k-kid attacked us, h-he had a knife. I-I never saw it coming...", Reid's voice broke as a small tear slipped down his face. "It's my fault. I-it should've b-been me", he sobbed. Maeve wrapped her arms around him and felt her own cheeks dampen.

"You listen to me, Spencer Reid. This is not your fault...look at me", she wiped his tears away before kissing his cheek softly and relaxing her head into his shoulder. "He's going to be okay", she whispered, holding his hand and kissing the back of Eva's head. "He'll be alright."

* * *

Rossi, Hotch, Morgan and JJ were there within half an hour. Morgan had texted Savannah several times to try and have her find out anything on Georgy. Garcia managed to sneak her laptop in and had been searching for the young men who had hurt her nephew.

Reid was looking at his feet, feeling extremely nauseous. He felt Maeve sit up from his shoulder and he glanced up to see an older doctor walking in. The doctor had a small smile on his lips and he made his way to Reid.

"Dr Reid?" He asked and Reid nodded, but frowned.

"How'd you know that?" He said.

"I had your son telling me all about you", he grinned and they all sighed in relief.

"How is he?" Reid asked, his face still pale.

"He's in recovery. He had minor surgery, but there was no serious damage to his organs. He's awake now, but pretty groggy. He was talking to me before and just now he was telling me about a game of chess he recently won", Reid couldn't help but smile, a tear of happiness falling down his cheek.

"Can we see him?" Maeve whispered, wearing her own smile.

"Of course. I'll take you to him now, but careful not to overwhelm him", the Doctor motioned the others up kindly and led them out.

* * *

The doctor opened the door and Maeve slid in. She saw Georgy looking extremely tiny on the big bed, with an IV and several other wires clustered around him. He was sat up, a huge bear in his hands. He was even paler than Spencer, and his hospital gown hung off his small frame. When he heard the door squeak he looked up hopefully his face lighting up with a big toothy grin.

"Mummy!" He croaked, throwing his arms into the air for a hug. Maeve obliged, Gentle coiling her arms around him and laughed and sobbed aloud.

"Oh, Honey!" She cried.

"I missed you", he whispered.

"I missed you too! I'm so sorry. You must've been so scared on your own", she apologised, taking his face in her palms.

He shook his head. "No, mummy. I had Dr Walker to talk to", he reassured and Maeve laughed again, wiping tears from her eyes. Spencer was next to swallow the little boy in a hug.

"I was so worried. I'm so sorry", he muttered into Georgy's ear.

"It's okay, Daddy. They were bad men. You can catch them and put them in prison, right?" He asked innocently and Reid ruffled his hair, not breaking the hug.

"Yes. I'm going to catch them."

* * *

The team stayed with Georgy, just talking and laughing and enjoying the family time, despite what happened.

Garcia laughed loudly at Morgan's joke and as she calmed down she remembered her forgotten task and pulled her laptop back out.

"How did you convince the doctors to let you use that?" Morgan chortled.

"Are you seriously questioning me, Goddess of knowledge and persuasion?" Morgan held his hands up in surrender, chuckling.

"Can we watch Dr Who?" Eva asked and Georgy nodded enthusiastically in agreement. Reid grabbed the remote and flicked through the channels.

"I don't think they do Dr-"

"Daddy stop!" Georgy cried when he saw a picture of rhinos. Reid jumped back to the discovery channel and looked over at his kids; Georgy tucked under the blankets his head resting on the pillows with Eva next to him over the blankets; the bed was big enough to accommodate both of them. Neither child looked dissapointed, their mouths hung slightly open as they watched gazelles prance across the screen. The team grinned at the sight.

"Come on, Mama. That can wait", Morgan nagged.

"What're you doing?" Maeve asked.

"Looking for the bastards who did this to my sunshine", Garcia growled and then covered her mouth. Luckily Georgy and Eva were too engrossed in the TV to have heard. Reid's ears perked up on hearing this.

"Have you found them?" He questioned.

"I'm close...I just..." her fingers played the keys like a piano, and her face suddenly burst into a smile as if she'd played the perfect tune.

"I found their address, w-"

"Send it to me, Garcia", Reid ordered, pulling his blazer on.

"Reid, I don't think I-"

"I'll go with him, Garcia", Morgan promised, grabbing his keys. Hotch frowned.

"You're going?" Georgy whimpered, Reid kissed his forehead.

"Not for long, Buddy. I promised you I'd catch these bad guys."

"This case is too personal. I can't let you two go", Hotch grunted, but Spencer wasn't listening.

"Reid. Stop."

"Would you?" Reid whispered, turning to face Hotch. "If it was Jack. Would you want to find the people who did this, then?" No-one spoke, knowing the answers because Hotch had already experienced it; it was why Foyet was dead. With that Reid left the room.

"We'll arrest them. I won't let him kill them", Morgan deadpanned. "Send me the address, Baby Girl", he muttered before spinning on his heel and catching up with Reid. Hotch adjusted his collar nervously.

"Garcia?" Hotch asked.

"Sir."

"Get backup to that address."

"Sir, aren't you going?" Hotch's paused for a minute and nodded.

"What's the address?"

* * *

Morgan slid into the drivers seat as Spencer quickly slipped on his vest. He saw Reid's glock on the passengers seat and without thinking he grabbed it and emptied it of bullets. He quickly put it back, hiding the bullets into the door. He hoped that Reid would be too distracted that he wouldn't notice that his gun was lighter, he also prayed that Reid didn't bother checking his gun for bullet. He didn't trust that Reid wouldn't shoot first, and he couldn't let Reid go to prison.

Reid jumped in the car and put his gun into its holster having checked and loaded it in the hospital. Morgan breathed a sigh of relief and sped away.

* * *

They reached the address, Morgan skidding to a halt and tearing out the car. A new flashy car sat in the driveway, similar to the one that had driven into Reid.

They got to the door and Morgan held Reid back.

"We're here to take them to custody. Don't shoot unless you need to", Reid's jaw was set tightly and he nodded. He lifted his foot up and smashed the door in, leaving Morgan a little dumbfounded because Reidusually let him kick the doors down, in fact he had no idea Reid could even do it.

Reid moves into the front room to find the two young men. The black haired one who had distracted him and Georgy was stood in front of the window his back to them. The other one was sat on the couch, his eyes wide and scared.

"FREEZE! Put your hands up or I swear to god, I'll put a bullet through your skull!" Reid spat, his gun held steadily at the kid with the black clean cut hair. The second young man slowly turned. The kids breath caught and he fell straight to his knees.

"Please...please...it was his idea..." the one with lighter brown hair whimpered as he cowered on his knees, arms above his head.

"You stabbed my son! HE'S FOUR!" Spencer spat, switching his gun to the young man who sobbed. Morgan aimed his gun at the other man; he could feel a fierce hatred burning inside of him and his finger trembled eagerly over the trigger. The boy with his back turned didn't raise his arms. His friend's breath hitched in fear.

"HANDS UP!" Reid screamed and the black hair boy raised his arms slightly. Morgan lowered his gun and pulled the brown haired boy, who was trembling violently into a harsh hold, cuffing his arms and slamming him against the wall. Reid's gun was redirected at the boy who had orchestrated the attack.

"I surrender agent", he called, keeping his back turned. Morgan yanked the other boy to his feet as he began to sob pitifully.

"Turn around", Reid ordered, his stance firm and his finger poised on the trigger. The young man in front of him slowly turned, a smile over his lips. Reid wanted to shoot the kid for being frustratingly slow, but he wasn't going to risk his job.

Suddenly the young man whipped a gun out. Reid was ready.

Two triggers were pulled.

One gun discharged.

* * *

 **Im soooo sorry for the delay, I'm awful! I was planning on taking so time off this story, but I'll see how it goes.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Please please please review and tell me what you think.**

 **Ta Ta for now!**


	37. Missing Bullets

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.)**

 **I'm am so horrible! I'm sooooo sorry for the wait, I am ashamed of myself, I just had so much going on.**

 **This story is just one of those ongoing stories; will it ever end, who knows? So start to expect slow updates so I can complete other stories.**

 **If any of you are reading The storm, I apologise for the delay, I'm waiting for the co-author and she has her own stories to update.**

 **I left the last chapter on a cliff hanger...whoops**

 **Previously:** _Suddenly the young man whipped a gun out. Reid was ready._

 _Two triggers were pulled._

 _One gun discharged._

* * *

Reid gaped at his gun. It hadn't fired. He expected pain, but he was none came.

"Hmmph", he heard a grunt behind him and his mind whirred. _Morgan._ The young man in front of him still had a gun poised as Spencer spun around; p

raying Morgan was alright.

To his surprise Morgan was fine. The young man in his arms, on the other hand, was choking on his own blood; his hands frantically trying to stem the blood leaking from a hole in his chest. Morgan was staring at him, not knowing what to do with the kid.

"Reid!" Morgan gasped, but it was too late. The young man with black hair had recovered and focused his gun on Reid. A new anger has enveloped him after seeing his bullet miss it's target.

Reid's empty gun fell to the ground, his eyes wide and shocked. The young man shot again, but the gun made a harsh clicking sound to inform the user that it was out of bullets. The black haired kid gazed up at the agent's before bolting from the room.

Reid was right on his tail.

"Reid!" Morgan repeated, letting the (now dead) brown haired kid drop from his arms as he chased after the other two. Derek sprinted through the back door and out onto the sidewalk, his eyes found the suspect desperately fleeing, with Spencer feebly chasing after him. Morgan surpassed Reid within seconds, who had started staggering. He glanced at the genius for a second before speeding off for the other kid.

Reid rasped and dropped to his knees. He watched breathlessly as Morgan chased the young man that had tried to kill his son.

He glanced down at himself and reeled back. His eyes had caught a hole in his shirt sleeve; through the hole he could see the wound in his shoulder. A fleshy crator where the bullet had entered. He prayed it had come out the other side.

Spencer thought about his family, and why he was there in the first place.

He had a baby on the way, he couldn't give up on his family. Slowly, painfully he got to his feet and with his hand pressed firmly to his shoulder he jogged after Morgan, who looked to be kilometers away.

The shrill shriek of sirens berated Spencer's ears and he pushed his legs harder than he ever had before, gritting his teeth against the intense pain in his shoulder.

Morgan was inches from the kid. He took a deep breath before lunging his body forward, wrapping his arms around the young man's legs. They both went down. The kid kicked out and screamed at the agent, trying to shove him off. Morgan was so preoccupied with trying to overpower the kid that he barely registered the weightlessness of his holster. He glanced around, getting a hold of the young man's wrists and holding them in place. Reid stood over them, Morgan's gun in his sticky, red hands.

Reid didn't even need to turn the safety off, the gun was ready and waiting; eager to exact his revenge. Morgan's gun felt unfamiliar and cold, unlike his trusty Glock, but he still managed to steady his hands and aim accurately at the kid with black hair's head.

Morgan pushed his knee into the kid's chest, pushing it painfully down so he couldn't move. He shook his head slowly at Spencer who's hands had started shaking; Morgan couldn't tell whether it was from his gunshot wound or fear.

"Reid, We got him, okay. Put that down", Morgan said gently, grunting slightly as he struggled to hold the kid beneath him. Reid didn't drop the gun. He stood, trembling, his breathing laboured; the gun began to shake violently as Reid lost more and more control. He swallowed thickly and tried to focus on his target.

"Reid. Reid, think of yourkids. You don't have to do this", Spencer closed his eyes briefly; images of Georgy and Eva filled his mind and he smiled. Then he saw blood, too much blood. He held Georgy tightly to him, blood soaking through his shirt... Reid snapped his eyes open, his brow bunched together.

"He hurt them", he growled, steadying the gun as best he could. Morgan blocked the young man's body with his own and fixed Reid with a hard stare. Yells could be heard from behind them, but neither Reid nor Morgan were looking behind them.

"I know. He deserves everything he's going to get...in prison. Trust me, he'll be begging for death soon enough. Child attackers aren't treated kindly, you've probably got a statistic on that", Reid tore his eyes from the young man's face and looked sadly at Morgan. He mumbled a statistic and Morgan smiled.

"See. Let him get the justice he deserves." Reid looked at the gun and then back at Morgan. Slowly he lowered the gun, throwing it to the ground with a sigh of relief. Morgan followed suit with a similar sigh and flipped the young man around, pushing his face into the ground harshly, slamming his knee into the kids back while he cuffed him and read his rights. He grabbed his gun from the lawn, holstering it before he pulled the young man to his feet.

Several police vehicles were parked in front of the house beside Morgan's SUV and an ambulance. Upon seeing the young man cuffed the officers holstered their weapons. Hotch jogged over to his agent's.

"I'll be out in a matter of days", the young man hissed at Reid. Spencer's jaw tightened and he threw a punch, his knuckles slammed into the young man's nose, emitting a sickening crack. The black haired kid yanked against his handcuffs instinctively trying to shield his face. Reid was pulled away before he could land a second punch. Hotch kept his hand on Reid's shoulder to keep him back.

Blood started streaming from the kid's nose and he moaned in pain. Morgan ignored this and started pushing the younger man to a cop car.

"I'm gonna sue you! I'll tell my father and our lawyer, there were witnesses!" He yelled. Morgan chuckled.

"What are you talking about? You broke your nose when you fell into the concrete", Morgan lied.

"That's a lie!" Screamed the black haired kid.

"Is it? Hotch did you see anything?" Hotch shrugged, giving Morgan an oblivious look.

"I saw you tackle him, that's all", he agreed, and some of the officers nodded. Reid was watching the kid darkly, relishing in the pain he had caused him.

"I want to see my lawyer!" He snarled.

"Save your money and my time", the sheriff spat back. He ordered his men to take the kid to the station and then turned to Reid.

"You okay, Agent? You're bleeding", he said, frowning in concern. Hotch whipped his head around to Reid, and caught sight of the blood covering the younger agent's shirt. He instantly took his hand from Reid's shoulder.

"It's a threw and threw I think. I'm fine, Morgan", he insisted as Morgan started fussing, pulling his jacket off and pressing it against Reid's wound. "Don't ruin it", Spencer said, pushing the jacket away and pressing his palm to the gunshot wound.

"You did good, Pretty Boy", Morgan grinned, patting Reid softly on the back.

"I would've killed him back there. If my gun was loaded...but it was", Reid frowned thoughtfully.

"C'mon, we should get you to the hospital", Morgan muttered hurriedly, pushing Reid to the ambulance.

"I swear I loaded my gun. No, I did-"

"We'll figure it out later, but right now you have a hole in your shoulder", Morgan urged him on, stopping at the foot of the ambulance.

"Morga-"

"We'll discuss it later", Morgan mumbled.

Reid took a seat on the gurney and allowed the EMT to examine his shoulder. The genius was frowning until he finally looked up at Morgan who was watching from the backdoors.

"You...did you take my bullets out?" Reid asked, feeling a little ashamed for even asking, but not having any other answer. Morgan opened his mouth, but no words formed on his tongue. Reid's eyes widened.

"We're going to take him to the hospital now, are you coming, Sir?" An EMT asked, interrupting Reid's possible rant.

"Uh...I-I think I'll see you there", Morgan called, stepping back and grimacing under Reid's glare.

"MORG-", the doors slammed shut, muffling Reid's shout.

"What was that about?" Hotch asked, opening the door of his SUV and hovering there.

"I think he just found out that I took the bullets from his gun. And I think he's pissed", Morgan replied, watching the ambulance make its way down the road.

"Good luck with that one", Hotch said unhelpfully, sliding into the driver's seat. Morgan sighed and slipped into his own SUV.

He picked up his phone and scrolled through the missed calls from Garcia, Hotch and one from Maeve. He pressed speed dial and waited.

"Okay, Muscle Man, I've been as patient as I could, now tell me what went down."

* * *

"Why isn't Daddy back?" Eva asked, trying and failing to keep her eyes open.

"He's fighting the bad guys, remember", Maeve murmured, flattening Eva's rowdy curls, and pushing her gently back on the bed beside her sleeping brother.

Garcia's phone started buzzing, she glanced at the number and suddenly lept up, hurrying from the room. After a minute, Maeve stood ready to follow her.

"Can you watch them for a minute?" JJ nodded and Maeve slipped out.

"-Dead?" Garcia gasped, and Maeve froze, the breath leaving her. Garcia looked up and shook her head vigorously, mouthing a "no" and waving her hand frantically.

"Spencer's Fine!" Garcia insisted. Maeve let out a sigh of relief and listened anxiously.

"No, I know, Maeve is here. Yea he's fine... when... okay...I'll tell her now, just make sure you get your ass here as soon as you arrive", she hung up and took Maeve's hands in her own

"Listen, don't overreact. Spencer's been shot. But he's okay, it was a threw and threw shot, he's coming in an ambulance, but Morgan said it's nothing serious." Garcia said calmly, Maeve's grip tightening on her hand.

"The guy who attacked Georgy was shot and killed and they have arrested the other. I don't know much more, but they're on their way."

* * *

Reid sat on the crinkled paper, hissing as the nurse sutured the hole in his shoulder. He had asked for no pain medication.

"Spencer!" Reid opened his clenched eyes and saw his wife stood in the doorway, her face a mixture of worry and relief.

"Sorry ma'am you-"

"She's my wife", Reid assured the nurse, who nodded and went back to her task.

"Oh Spence, I was so worried. Don't you ever...ever do that to me again. I mean it", she warned, before taking his white knuckles into her hands and rubbing soothing circles into the back of his.

"How's Georgy?"

"He's fine. He was asking for you, but he's sleeping now."

Maeve looked up at him and he avoided her eyes. She took a deep breath before asking.

"Did you...", Reid looked up and into Maeve's worried brown eyes.

"No. B-but I wanted to... I could have as well."

"I'm glad you didn't", Maeve sighed, resting her head on his good shoulder. The nurse finished the stitches and left them alone. Maeve took Spencer's face into her hands and turned it to face her.

"I would've done it", she whispered. There was silence for a few seconds before Reid chuckled. Maeve appeared offended, but cracked a smile, smacking his good shoulder playfully.

"Hey!"

"Dr Maeve Reid, you are one of the kindest, most gentle people I've ever met."

"Are you saying that I can't shoot a gun, Spencer?" She asked seriously.

"Can you? I-I mean uh-" He was cut off mid-sentence when Maeve's soft lips pressed against his.

"I did punch him though; I broke his nose and most likely damaged his nasal septum", he mumbled into her lips. She pulled away and smiled at him.

"That's my man."

* * *

Reid stepped into Georgy's room quietly. He shifted his arm in it's sling and smiled at his wife, who had a sleeping Eva in her arms. He kissed his daughter's forehead and then planted a soft kiss on Maeve's lips.

"You should get some rest. I'll be back with this one in the morning", she looked back at her son sleeping peacefully in the big hospital bed.

"I won't leave him", Spencer whispered back.

He took a seat in an armchair beside Georgy's bed and watched as he slept. He'd told Maeve to go back to the kids while he got his sling and antibiotics. The team had gone home to get some rest, and he'd seen them all off home, all except Morgan who had done a grand disappearing act.

It wasn't for another half an hour when Morgan reappeared. Reid heard the quiet knocking and snapped his head up to attention. Morgan stood sheepishly in the doorframe. He stepped in and shut the door behind him. Silence elapsed between them for a few minutes.

"I know why you did it", Reid admitted finally; Morgan looked up from his hands.

"You do?"

"Yes. I would've k-" Reid looked at Georgy who was still flat out. "-killed him. I still would now, but you were right. That's not proper justice", Reid sighed and pushed Georgy's hair from his eyes. "And I need to set an example", he added with a small smile.

"It was stupid of me. I didn't know if he was armed and I-I was risking your life. I should be suspended", Morgan said.

"I'm surprised I'm not getting suspended. I let it get personal and if both those kids had ended up dead I would be under investigation. So really I owe you my career", he simpered, watching Morgan with great appreciation.

Reid stood up and gingerly stepped towards Morgan. Derek didn't know what to expect so he remained still until he felt Reid's arm wrap around him. Morgan embraced Reid, mindful of his shoulder. Reid rested his chin or Morgan's shoulder and sighed.

"It's over."

* * *

 **That's it...I know! I made you wait so long and I give you a short chapter like I said, I'm an asshole. Actually, I've had a little bit of writer's block on the last few chapters, so I've been delaying them rather than dealing with them.**

 **I promise the next chapter will be coming much, much sooner and it will be a lot happier than the last few.**

 **Please review, but I've already beaten myself up over delay so you don't have to bother with reminding me.**

 **See you guys in the next chapter, coming as soon as possible!**

 **I have an idea, to make up for that delay I'll give you a quick glimpse into what the next chapter entails.**

 **Next Time:** _"Are you sure you can handle them all, Hotch?" JJ fretted, watching as Henry bounced after Eva who seemed to be leading them on a secret spy mission._

 _"It'll be fine", Hotch repeated._

 _"Honestly, Hotch, if it's too much, please say. I know how much of a handful Eva can be", Reid said, a thoughtful look on his face. Hotch frowned slightly, glancing at the said child who was playing rather quietly. From what he'd seen, both kid's seemed to have inherited their parent's quietness, and having a boy himself, he wondered why Reid hadn't warned him about Georgy._

 _"Will you four stop fussing and go. If you find my body in the morning, then you can say I told you so", Hotch winked, with a ghost of a smile. JJ laughed, was that a joke...from Hotch? she thought._

 _When they finally left, Hotch shut the door and lent against it. Eva skipped out of the front room and smiled broadly at Hotch. What were they on about, Hotch thought, giving her one of his rare smiles back._

 _He was about to find out exactly what Reid was on about._


	38. Sleepover with Hotch

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **I'm actually excited to do this chapter, I enjoy writing fluffy chapters, they make me feel so warm and happy.**

 **Thanks for the review and the ideas ahowell1993, I think I will do that in a later chapter.**

 **You may already know what's going to happen in this chapter from the title and the small summary I put in the last chapter. Poor Hotch has been collared into holding a sleepover for his co-worker's kids. Will he cope?**

 **Previously:**

 _Reid stood up and gingerly stepped towards Morgan. Derek didn't know what to expect so he remained still until he felt Reid's arm wrap around him. Morgan embraced Reid, mindful of his shoulder. Reid rested his chin or Morgan's shoulder and sighed._

 _"It's over."_

* * *

"Are you sure you can handle them all, Hotch?" JJ fretted, watching as Henry bounced after Eva, who seemed to be leading them on a secret spy mission.

"It'll be fine", Hotch repeated.

"Honestly, Hotch, if it's too much, please say. I know how much of a handful Eva can be", Reid said, a thoughtful look on his face. Hotch frowned slightly, glancing at the said child who was playing rather quietly. From what he'd seen, both kid's seemed to have inherited their parent's quietness, and having a boy himself, he wondered why Reid hadn't warned him about Georgy.

"Will you four stop fussing and go. If you find my body in the morning, then you can say I told you so", Hotch winked, with a ghost of a smile. JJ laughed, _was that a joke...from Hotch?_ she thought.

"Fine, but you've been warned. Be good you two!" Maeve called, Georgy dashed back to give them a kiss and hug goodbye.

"Henry, we're going now", Will shouted.

"Eva?" Reid yelled.

"Shhhh. She's a spy Daddy, that's not her name anymore; It's-", he was cut off by Henry's hand over his mouth. the other boy pressed his fingers to his lips and Georgy nodded. The adults shook their heads at their kid's 'serious' games.

"Bye, mum. Bye, Dad. I promise to be good", Henry exulted, giving his parents a quick hug and smile before hurrying back into the front room, followed by Georgy.

"See, we'll be fine", Hotch reassured. JJ and Will smiled back, but Reid and Maeve exchanged a doubtful look.

When they finally left, Hotch shut the door and lent against it. Eva skipped out of the front room and smiled broadly at Hotch. _What were they on about,_ Hotch thought, giving her one of his rare smiles back.

He was about to find out _exactly_ what Reid was on about.

* * *

JJ sat on the couch with a glass of wine and diet coke and curled up beside Will.

"This is nice", she whispered. Will took the wine from her and took a swig. She pouted and took a sip of her coke.

"Yea, we should employ Hotch as a babysitter more often."

"You won't be saying that when we are the next hosts". Will ran his finger over the tiny bump she was developing.

"I think you'll be exempt for a while. When are you going to tell them?" JJ kissed him gently and winked.

"In my own sweet time." She gazed at the wine longingly. _7 months,_ she thought, _It's not too long to wait._

* * *

Maeve glanced at Reid, holding his hand softly while they listened to the seminar. Reid absentmindedly rubbed his shoulder, which was still sore from the gunshot wound. He had ditched the sling after 4 days and now, 2 weeks later, it was still giving him some trouble.

"Do you think they're alright?" Maeve whispered. She had been concerned to leave Georgy. This was the first time since he was stabbed that she'd left him. She was going back to work on Monday and Georgy was going back to school, but she had a motherly fear gnawing away at her.

Spencer squeezed her hand back.

"I know you're worried about him, but he'll be fine. I'm more worried about Hotch."

"She might not even do it."

"I hope not. I'm still recovering from when I was her victim."

* * *

"Where's Mummy and Daddy?" Georgy asked curiously.

"They went to a seminar. Didn't they tell you?" Eva boasted. Hotch hid his smile. He had no idea that you could go to seminars at 6 pm, but Reid and Maeve always seemed to do the impossible.

"No...when are they back?" Hotch went to open his mouth, but Eva answered for him again.

"They're not coming back tonight". Georgy looked to Hotch desperately, his bottom lip trembling.

"They'll be back in the morning, buddy. You're staying with me tonight", Aaron said, putting a light hand on Georgy's shoulder.

"What are we going to do?" Georgy asked, climbing up on the couch beside Hotch.

"Well dinners almost ready, we could-"

"Watch a film!" Jack finished, racing in and holding up a DVD for Hotch to put on.

"No way, I wanna play!" Eva whined.

"This is a really good movie", promised Henry, jumping beside Georgy. Eva groaned and plonked her butt on the floor while Hotch put the DVD on the TV.

"I'll call you guys when dinner's ready. You will have to press pause. Jack, you're in charge", Hotch ordered with a grin as Jack saluted him. Eva scowled a little, _I should be in charge,_ she thought, focusing her attention on the TV screen.

Hotch checked on the dinosaur shaped turkey nuggets and chips he had cooking before picking up a case file and sitting at the kitchen table to complete it.

Eva glanced up at the boy's, all three were engrossed in the film. Eva had seen a guy in a tight suit and watched as he kissed the girl and high fived the people he saved. She rolled her eyes and crawled around the sofa so that the distracted boys didn't see her. The others may not still be playing, but she was.

She'd given up on being a spy when Spencer had tripped on her walkie-talkie. She also realised there wasn't much to spy on at home; she'd tried to make a log book on Merton's whereabouts, but he rarely got up and Coffee ran around so much that Eva grew tired of recording them.

No; she wasn't a spy anymore. Maeve had put on a film for her and Georgy not long after he came out of the hospital. She had loved every second of it and couldn't wait to test out all the traps. She managed to persuade her mom to let them watch the rest of the movies, and seeing how Maeve and Georgy had some time off, she couldn't say no. 'Home Alone' had become her new obsession, and as normal Spencer had fallen victim to it.

 _"Eves, your snack's on the table", Reid called. He heard someone giggling in the other room and he curiously stepped out to see who it was. Eva hid behind the couch, giggling madly, waiting for her daddy to befall her booby trap._

 _In his usual clumsy fashion, he succeeded in Eva's plan if not more so._

 _"I can hear you", he'd teased, peeking into the front room and catching a glimpse of tawny eyes peering over the couch before they disappeared suddenly followed by muffled hysterics._

 _Spencer, hoping to catch his daughter, dashed into the room. He didn't see the cling film stretched out across the threshold just a little above his ankle height. He walked right into it, his feet came to a halt, but his body continued. He landed on his front and groaned, just as Eva burst into a peal of laughter._

 _"Got you, burglar!" She cried before sprinting out._

 _"Come back!" Reid grunted, pulling himself up slowly._

 _"Nah, Nah, na, Nah_ _, Nah_ _!" Came her small voice from another room. Reid stood up carefully and winced, not prepared for the traps that had been set for him around the house._

Eva snuck into the kitchen and stood in front of Hotch, staring at him innocently.

"Please, may I have a glass of water, Uncle Aaron?"!she asked sweetly and Hotch felt his heart melt a little.

"Course you can", Hotch reaches up into the cupboard and pulled down a glass.

"Could I Maybe have it in a plastic cup? Daddy said I'm not allowed things that can smash because I'm too clumsy", Hotch grinned and pulled out a plastic cup with Spider-Man on. He filled it from the tap and placed it in Eva's small expectant hands.

"Thanks, Uncle Aaron!"

"No problem, Sweetie. You go watch that film and I'll come get you guys when dinner is ready", she nodded before skipping away. Hotch went back to his paperwork and didn't notice a small figure dart back into the kitchen and sneak out with her arms full.

Eva snuck past the living room and down the hall, pushing a few doors open and peeking inside. She found what she was looking for and set her materials down. She glanced around the bathroom, rubbing her hands together and getting started.

* * *

"Guys! Food's ready!" Hotch called cheerfully, stealing a chip from the bowl and chewing it quickly so it didn't burn his tongue.

Four kids rushed in, taking a seat and loading their plates. Hotch placed ketchup amongst the vultures, escaping before they took his hand with them. He chuckled lightly to himself, cleaning up the baking trays. He turned around just as Eva was whispering to Jack, who was smiling. Before Hotch could defend himself a ketchup-covered fry smacked into his neck, rolling down his collar. Jack was trying to hold back his giggles, but Henry, Eva and Georgy all burst into peals of laughter.

"Ja-", another fry landed on his shirt, and Henry looked away innocently.

"Stop!" Hotch pleaded as two more fries pelted him. "Ahh! Stop! Stop!" Finally, he managed to fix the kid's with a firm stare and they returned to eating their dinner quietly.

"Uncle Aaron, you look like you need a shower", Eva said sweetly, putting a dinosaur nugget in her mouth.

"It looks like I do", he agreed, sighing at the stains on his shirt. "Jack, you're in charge. Oh and don't think you're getting away with this", he warned, causing his son to sink back into his chair. Hotch didn't notice the look of triumph on Eva's suddenly not so innocent face.

Hotch trudged down the hall, dabbing at his shirt with a cloth. He was too distracted to notice that the previously closed bathroom door was now ajar. He pushed open the door when a cold shower of water drenched him from above. He spluttered and stumbled into the room, shaking himself in shock.

"What the-" he gasped, rubbing the water from his eyes and looking around. His eyes caught the plastic cup turned upside down on the floor. He knelt down and examined the cup and frowned when he recognised it as the one he'd given to Eva, _but...she wouldn't,_ he glanced up at the door.

He shook his head, straightening up and heading to the towel cabinet. He pulled open the door, causing a bag of flour to come tumbling down. He saw it coming but was frozen in place, watching the bag descend down onto him. He coughed violently, closing his eyes against the clouds of flour floating around him.

"Urgh!" He cried, dusting flour from his wet body. It stuck to him and formed a lumpy mixture over his face as he rubbed it away.

"Dad?" Jack's timid voice broke through Hotch's curses. Aaron whipped around, causing Jack to jump back in horror when his dad's flour-covered face glared at him.

"Woah!"

"You are in big trouble!" Hotch growled, wiping his face with a towel and kicking the flour bag to the side.

"It wasn't me!" Jack exclaimed.

"Then who was it?" But the agent already knew.

* * *

Hotch flicked the TV off. It wasn't that he hadn't tried to tell Eva off, he had; tried that is.

" _Eva?"_

 _"Yes, Uncle Aaron?" The small girl looked up with the sweetest of looks that Hotch felt his anger evaporate and his heart melt and he almost forgot what he was there for._

 _"Did you set up...that trap?"_

 _"I don't know what you're talking about", she said, her big hazel eyes filled with nothing but innocence. Hotch opened his mouth, but couldn't bring himself to reprimand the little girl. He told himself that he'd tell Reid so he could deal with it._

He'd put the kids to bed hours ago and hadn't heard a peep from them since then. He stood up and shuffled off to his room cautiously, watching the floor for any traps.

He sighed when he made it to his room, opening the door and checking the top for any sign of a cup or bag of flour. When he was sure the coast was clear, he let the door swing open and flicked on the light. The light hit a small lump in his bed and he scowled.

"Uh...Eva? I made a bed up for you, you don't have to sleep in here", the little girl shifted on the double bed, starfishing over it.

"I like it here. It's comfy", she mumbled.

"No, come on. Everyone else is asleep and this is where I sleep", Hotch said, trying to assert dominance.

"I like it here", she repeated, making no sign of leaving.

* * *

 **The Next Morning**

Hotch opened the door and felt a wave of relief when he saw Maeve and Reid stood there smiling.

"How do you do it?" Hotch asked, his eyes wide and tired. He heard Eva and Georgy's footsteps rushing over to them and he felt the, brush past him. Georgy embraced his father's legs, then moved onto his mother, squeezing tightly.

"Do what?" Smirked Reid.

"Cope. I didn't know girls could be so much work!" Gasped Aaron, shaking his head in awe.

"She wasn't that bad, was she?" Maeve queried, stroking her hand through Eva's long curls as she tugged on her mother's sleeve.

"Let's just say I slept on the couch and I now know why Jack wants to replace it."

"Oh God, I'm sorry", she turned and glared at Spencer. "That's his fault; he lets them come sleep in our bed when they have nightmares." She shook her head at an innocent looking Reid, before turning on the small girl pulling on her sleeve. Eva looked up with an equally innocent look. "Eva! You were supposed to do what Uncle Aaron said", Eva pouted at her mother and slipped behind her, latching onto Spencer's leg instead.

"I was making sure that there were no burglars!" Eva exclaimed.

"Wait...she didn't only sleep in your bed did she?" Reid asked. Hotch didn't reply and Reid groaned. "What did she do?"

* * *

 **Next chapter might not be for a while, I've got a new story coming real soon!**

 **Please review, I'll be so happy to read your thoughts!**

 **So I guess I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	39. Crackers

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **Long time no see, and that's entirely my fault sorry, this story isn't that well received so I'd rather work on ones people will review and feedback on (thank you ahowell1993 for being a constant reviewer!)**

 **Sorry for the delay! Like I said this story is going to have slow updates because I'm busy busy busy!**

 **Just a short and sweet chapter because I knew I needed to update, but I didn't have the will to do a massive chapter.**

 **Thanks for the reviews! Please leave more, I will be forever grateful!**

* * *

"You're not pregnant, are you?" Spencer passed by JJ who had just opened a packet of crackers. JJ tried futilely to hide her cracker.

"Um..."

Spencer's brow furrowed with realisation and he looked down at her stomach.

"You are!" He gasped. JJ shrugged sheepishly and Spencer flung his arms around her, breaking the cracker she had been enjoying.

"I'm so happy for you!" He said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What's going on over here?" Rossi asked, trudging laboriously down the steps. Spencer opened his mouth but stopped himself knowing it was JJ's news to tell.

"Well um-"

"How come you guys have stopped working?" Demanded Emily, slamming her files shut and narrowing her eyes at the other agents before breaking into a smirk.

"I-" JJ tried to explain as Hotch walked by with his traditional frown on his brow.

"Aren't those the crackers you ate when you were pregnant with Henry?" He deadpanned.

Morgan who had been eavesdropping after Rossi arrived dropped his file and gaped at JJ.

"You're pregnant?"

"This isn't how I was planning to tell you guys, but yes; I'm two months pregnant," she admitted and Rossi jumped to attention, kissing her cheeks in the conventional Italian custom.

"Congratulations, Bella!" He cried. Emily pulled her into a hug next.

"Congratulations to you both," Hotch said; a small and incredibly rare smile on his lips.

"I see Will's still got it in him," chuckled Morgan crudely and Emily jammed her elbow between his ribs turning his laughter into a fit of coughs.

"Really?" JJ raised her eyebrows and smirked at Morgan who hunched over clutching his chest.

"Don't be such a hypochondriac," Emily chided.

"You got me good!"

Garcia trotted out of her office and caught a glimpse of her team bickering in the bullpen. Her eyes widened and she scurried across the tiles; her dress didn't permit long strides so she shuffled along precariously; eager to knuckle in on the gossip.

"Hey, what's happening? What's going on? Am I missing something? It's not your birthday because I know when that is...have you got a new job? Oh you've totally got a new job...why am I always the last to know!?" Garcia hurried awkwardly on her heels into the bullpen; her mouth running a mile. Morgan held her steady and just grinned at her.

"Chill Mama, she isn't leaving...well, not yet anyway."

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean? JJ, what's happening?" Garcia glanced at each team member who had equally wide grins.

"Don't tell me they want you to transfer, because if they do I will bombard them with emails and letters...I-I will hack the hell out of them! I'll sue them! I-I'll shut them down! They'll regret messing with me when I attack their system. They won't know what's hit-," Garcia was already scheming in her mind how she was going to wreak havoc within the FBI's computing system before JJ quickly cut in.

"Garcia! Slow down! It's not that...it's...I'm...I'm pregnant."

"Oh!" Garcia's eyes widened as the news hit. "OH! OH, OH MY GOD! You're and... he's... baby... and... pregnant..." she waffled and she pulled JJ into a bear hug.

"We're having another BAU baby!" She yelled, bouncing around excitedly. She stopped and grabbed JJ's arms, shaking her happily. She looked into the other blonde's eyes her mouth hung open in shock before she muttered, "We have to celebrate!"

* * *

Rossi chose the restaurant and Garcia informed everyone's families before the team could even look at their phones. By 5pm Garcia and Rossi were already at the restaurant waiting for the others to arrive.

"What's taking them so long?" Garcia whined. She continuously glanced at her watch, her teeth rubbing anxiously against her gum.

Rossi rolled his eyes. "Perhaps because we were early. And they all have their families to organise."

"What about Emily?"

"Yea well it's Emily; I've gotten used to expecting the unexpected from her," Rossi chuckled and took a small sip of the wine he had ordered before they were even seated. As he set the glass down he caught sight of a pair of big golden brown eyes and curly hair peeking over the tables.

"I think someone's arrived," he hissed and Garcia whipped her head around as Eva bounced past the tables. The golden eyes found the Italian and made a mad dash for him.

"Uncle Dave!" Eva cried; she barrelled into the older agent and started giggling happily as he made exaggerated gasping noises in response.

Maeve hurried over; her cheeks flushed pink.

"Sorry, Dave," She panted, pulling Eva off him.

"That's okay; I love seeing the little bambinos."

"Have you seen Bambi?" Eva asked; she glanced curiously at Rossi who's brow creased.

"Um... sorry, Kiddo, don't think I've heard that one."

"Oh. Well how come you always call us bambino if you haven't seen Bambi?" She questioned.

Rossi raised his eyebrows and smirked. He opened his mouth to reply but the young girl was rambling before he could get a single word in.

"It's a film about a baby deer who's mummy dies and then he's all alone and a big-"

Eva rabbited on and Reid rolled his eyes as he and Georgy caught up. The small boy clutched his father's hand and had his tongue stuck out in concentration as he tried to mimic Reid's long strides.

"Sorry we're late; somebody lost their giraffe," Spencer said with a smile, motioning to Georgy who looked up with puffy red eyes.

"Well, you're not even late," Rossi started and he shot Garcia a quick look when she opened her mouth to protest that he wasn't early either.

"And I'm sure he'll turn up soon."

He turned to Georgy and ruffled his unruly hair.

"I expect your giraffe is watching cartoons and eating your cereal," he said and Georgy giggled and wiped his nose and eyes on his sleeves.

"Really?" Georgy asked; his watery brown eyes gazing up at Rossi.

"Yea, and I bet he's gonna eat all of Eva's chocolate too."

"That's not true!" Eva said matter-O-factly. She crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Spotty is made of polyester! He couldn't possibly eat cereal and chocolate," she explained, throwing her arms wildly in the air like her father did on cases.

"Ah right..." Rossi Mumbled.

Eva grinned and skipped off to a seat. Georgy didn't let go of Reid's hand and he clambered into the chair beside his father's.

JJ, Will, Henry, Hotch, Emily, and Jack were next to arrive and the profiler in Reid and Rossi took note how close Emily and Hotch were; they exchanged a quick smirk before their boss was too near to see. The boys scrambled up to the table. Henry immediately went to Eva's side of the table and tried to get into the chair beside her.

"Password," Eva demanded, putting her hand on the chair next to her to stop Henry sitting down.

"Huh?"

"You've got to have the password if you want to sit in the chair," she explained. Henry's smile fell and his eyebrows scrunched together.

"I don't know the password," he replied.

"Then you can't sit here," Eva said simply.

"I know the password," Jack announced; he grinned at Henry who had began to pout angrily.

"I'm waiting," Eva said, yawning and glancing down at her nails in boredom.

"Is it; Eva is the...greatest?" Jack asked. Eva looked up and licked her lips thoughtfully.

"Close enough," she took her hand from the seat and let Jack sit down. Henry stormed away and scrambled into the seat beside Georgy who beamed at him.

"Hey, Henry!" He cried.

Maeve pulled JJ into a hug and motioned to her stomach.

"Congratulations!"

"Thank you; now you won't be the only one suffering in maternity

Savannah caught sight of the group and dashed over, hugging Garcia.

"Where did you leave Derek and Hank?" Emily laughed.

"They're both as slow as each other. I swear Derek is teaching him bad habits."

She rolled her eyes before turning to JJ.

"And you! I can't believe it! Does this mean Derek and I have to have another?" She gasped, hugging JJ close to her.

"Yes!" Garcia hissed. "More!"

Morgan strode through the doors with Hank in his arms, peering out at the other tables. What hair Hank had on his head was jelled back slightly.

"See what I mean," Savannah sighed.

"My little guy has to look his best," Morgan winked.

Rossi rolled his eyes and the team took their seats. Hotch and Emily somehow managed to sit together. They exchanged a smile and their hands met under the table.

* * *

Eva waited for the adults to order dessert and become distracted with a conversation before ducking under the table leaving Jack staring at her empty seat.

"Eva," Reid sighed, setting his fork down. Eva held her breath, hoping that her father was simply talking about her and that she hadn't been caught.

"Come up from under there," he said. Eva frowned with annoyance and crawled over to the pair of black converse under the table.

A small head poked up from under the table cloth. She rested her hands on Reid's knee.

"Daddy!" Eva whined.

"I'm a deep sea diver," she informed him before ducking back under the table.

"I wanna go deep sea diving too!" Henry wailed. JJ glanced at Will who shrugged. Henry took that as his answer and shimmied out of his seat.

The team returned to their conversation and quiet giggles leaked out from under the table.

Georgy was too absorbed with his game of noughts and crosses with his dad to notice the older kids laughter. Spencer was talking as he played, and had let Georgy win several times. Jack, on the other hand, was sat quietly, occasionally swinging his legs out to catch one of the younger kids under the table. He knew he hit his target when a small 'hey' echoed from beneath the cream table cloth.

The waiter and waitress came back with their desserts; they barely fluttered an eyelid at the empty seats and instead set the bowls of ice cream on the abandoned placemats.

Spencer took his cheesecake from the waiter and almost threw it into his lap when a set of teeth chomped down on his leg.

"Gah!" He cried, dropping his plate on the table and cringing at the look the waiter gave him. He lifted the table cloth and saw Henry smiling nervously up at him.

"What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his shin.

"Eva said I was the shark...sh-she told me to bite you. Sorry, uncle Spence," he stuttered.

JJ frowned.

"Henry, did you bite uncle Spence?"

Morgan and Will snickered but the dark look JJ cast silenced them. Slowly Henry poked his head out from under the table and he looked up at his mother.

"Y-Yes."

"It's okay, JJ. They were just playing," Spencer said, winking at Henry.

"Sit down, Henry, and apologise," she jibbed. Henry turned to Spencer, biting his lip and trying not to cry.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"That's okay, just warn me next time there's a great white lurking under the table."

Henry giggled but quickly hicupped to a stop when he caught his mother glaring at him.

"Aw! We were playing!" Eva groaned, slithering up from under the table.

"Did you tell Henry to bite me?" Reid asked with a smirk. Eva nodded and blinded him with her own innocent smile.

"Well he _was_ a shark, Daddy!" She said.

"Could he not have been a friendly shark?" Garcia asked. Eva looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head.

"He was hungry."

Henry shoved a heaping spoonful of ice cream into his mouth and Eva motioned to him.

"See!"

"Well, actually, Sharks attacks are rare. You are 30 times more likely to be struck by lightening that for a shark to hurt you," Georgy informed them before returning to his chocolate cake.

The team paused between mouthfuls and looked over at the young boy carefully eating his chocolate cake. They glanced at Reid who was smiling proudly.

"No prizes for who told him that," Emily chuckled.

* * *

 **Please review, I don't get many for this story and I need motivation to keep going with it... I was close to just giving up on it the last few months.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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